Japanese Official Freed After Gift Shop Theft : Diplomacy: Mayor Bradley contacted airport police to express concern about the arrest. Case against Nagoya City Assembly chairman was dropped within hours.

Authorities released a Japanese city official who was arrested for alleged felony theft at Los Angeles International Airport last month after Mayor Tom Bradley contacted police about the incident, according to records and interviews.

Yukio Umemura, chairman of the Nagoya City Assembly, was caught taking two Gucci wallets and a brown leather purse valued at $450 from an airport duty-free shop on April 14, police reports show.

While Umemura does not qualify for diplomatic immunity, he belongs to the Los Angeles-Nagoya sister city organization. The day before his arrest, Umemura had exchanged gifts with Bradley during a brief visit to the mayor’s office.

The case was dropped within hours of the arrest following a meeting between Umemura and a top Bradley aide, two police sergeants and the airport vendor, Duty Free Shoppers Ltd.

“There was an agreement arrived at between Duty Free and (Umemura),” Airport Police Chief Gil Sandoval said in an interview. “It was decided they wouldn’t take any criminal prosecution against him. Since we no longer had any witnesses, we didn’t have a case.”

At Umemura’s request, both parties also agreed “not to make any public statement or otherwise publicize the incident,” according to a waiver obtained by The Times.

Bradley refused to discuss his involvement in the matter. His spokesman, Bill Chandler, said the mayor did not seek to influence the case in any way.

“The mayor called to obtain an understanding of the case and to ensure that the standard procedures were being followed,” Chandler said. “It would be the mayor’s practice to make such an inquiry any time a visiting dignitary runs afoul of local authorities.”

After researching the issue, however, Chandler could cite no similar case in which Bradley has intervened.

The airport police watch commander who took Bradley’s call said the mayor expressed concern about Umemura’s arrest. “He said he was concerned that it could be very embarrassing for Mr. Umemura,” Sgt. Carolyn Harris said in an interview Tuesday night.

Sandoval said the Umemura incident marked the first time he could recall the mayor personally contacting airport police regarding a law enforcement matter.

Under normal circumstances the case likely would have been referred for prosecution as a felony grand theft, Sandoval said.

Bradley was first notified of the incident by Jeffrey Y. Matsui, his executive assistant and liaison to the Japanese community, according to Chandler. He said that Matsui had responded to the “weekend emergency” by driving to the airport.

The mayor’s spokesman could not explain why Bradley felt it was necessary to personally contact police after he had been informed that Matsui was handling the case.

“I can’t provide any more details for you,” Chandler told a reporter. “As I said, it would not be at all out of the ordinary.”

Sgt. Harris wrote in a police report that Bradley initially requested to speak with the head of Duty Free Shoppers, the vendor that later agreed not to press criminal charges. The Duty Free official was not available at the time, and Bradley did not speak with him, Chandler said.

Harris said that when Bradley expressed concern for Umemura, “I told him I understood and the matter was being resolved as we spoke.”

The arrest occurred shortly before noon outside a duty-free shop at the Tom Bradley International Terminal when a security officer saw Umemura take the merchandise and leave the gift shop without paying, records show.

Umemura “unzippered his tote bag, completely picked up the brown leather purse from the bottom shelf, looked around, then concealed the purse into the tote bag,” wrote Theresa Ramsay, the airport security manager for Duty Free Shoppers. “(Umemura) then quickly zippered the tote bag shut. I then observed (Umemura) approach another display where I observed him pick up two small leather wallets and place them inside his right-hand pants pocket.”

Ramsay declined to be interviewed. “I have no comment, period,” she said. No one else at Duty Free Shoppers was willing to discuss the incident.

After his arrest, Umemura was “emotionally upset” and denied any wrongdoing, said Los Angeles attorney Peter M. Langenberg, a member of the Los Angeles-Nagoya Sister City Affiliation. Langenberg speaks Japanese and had accompanied Umemura to the mayor’s office the preceding day. He said that Umemura presented the mayor with a cloisonne pendant made in Nagoya and Bradley gave the Japanese official a plaque.

Chandler said the pendant was a “token, routine” gift to the mayor and was worth less than $25.

While Umemura was in police custody, a travel agent who had accompanied him alerted the sister city group in Los Angeles. Among those contacted were Matsui and Langenberg.

Matsui has a policy of not talking to reporters and would have no comment, Chandler said.

Langenberg said that Matsui “was there to see if there was any assistance that could be provided (for Umemura) in the capacity of the sister city relationship.”

As part of the agreement negotiated between Umemura and Duty Free Shoppers, the Japanese city official was allowed to return the items without having to admit guilt or face any criminal charges.

The request to keep all details of the arrest secret was made in writing by Umemura and signed by Duty Free Shoppers, records show.

“Both parties wanted it to walk away and they didn’t want it blown out of proportion or have it misconstrued,” Langenberg said. “The best way to do that is to keep it quiet.”

Publicity of the arrest in Japan could have serious ramifications for Umemura’s political career, according to Langenberg.

Chandler blamed “disgruntled employees” at the airport for leaking details of the arrest to The Times. He said that employees are upset with Bradley’s proposal to replace airport officers with Los Angeles Police Department officers.