City to Pay for Care of Man Wounded in SIS Shooting

Calling it the “right thing to do,” the Los Angeles City Council agreed Friday to spend $50,000 to pay the medical bills of a bystander who was wounded when police shot and killed three robbery suspects in Northridge.

The payment, however, does not settle the lawsuit filed by attorneys for Grover Smith, 20, who was shot in the right leg by an elite but controversial squad of Los Angeles police detectives.

The unit, known as the Special Investigations Section, shot Smith after following and confronting an alleged group of robbers who were suspected of robbing a Northridge bar.

Smith was not involved in the robbery, police later determined. He also did not have medical insurance and could not pay for his care at Northridge Hospital Medical Center.

“‘The city wants to ensure that he gets continued medical care,” said Councilwoman Laura Chick, the chair of the council’s public safety committee who recommended making the payment.

“It’s just the right thing to do,” said Councilman Mike Feuer, a member of the public safety committee.

The funds for Smith’s medical bills were requested by the Police Department and were diverted from a police overtime account.

Stephen Yagman, a civil rights attorney who filed a suit on Thursday on Smith’s behalf, called the offer “too little, too late.”

He accused the council of trying to use the offer to “get some positive publicity.”

Yagman, who has sued the SIS for clients in the past, said he asked city and police officials on Thursday to pay for the bills but got no response.

After city officials ignored his request, Yagman said he “made arrangements to have all the medical bills covered.” He declined to say who paid the bills but said the cost will be recovered once he wins the lawsuit against the city.

Smith remains in serious condition in the intensive care unit at Northridge Hospital Medical Center with a shattered right leg. His family requested that hospital officials release no information on his condition.

The incident began Tuesday night after the SIS squad opened fire on the alleged robbers when one of the group pointed a gun at pursuing officers after the armed holdup, police said.

Smith got caught up in the case when detectives swarmed his neighborhood in pursuit of one of the alleged robbers who escaped after the shooting. Yagman said that Smith, seeing patrol cars moving into his neighborhood, feared that he was being sought for unpaid traffic warrants and hid behind a tree.

When Smith realized he was not the target, Yagman said, he walked toward the officers with his arms raised and said, “Don’t shoot, don’t shoot.”

Police said Smith was shot in the leg because he reached toward his waistband as if he had a gun.

The victim’s suit also calls on the city to disband SIS, which Yagman has called the Police Department’s “death squad.” Since its formation in 1965, the SIS has been involved in 52 shootings, and has been criticized for not arresting criminals before they threaten--and in some cases harm--innocent people.

In a related development, Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-Santa Clarita) released a letter to Atty. Gen. Janet Reno expressing his dismay that the U.S. Justice Department has opened a preliminary probe into possible civil rights violations by the SIS in the shooting.

“I am concerned this action could further exacerbate the situation and lead to the demonization of the LAPD before a full police investigation can be completed,” said McKeon, who represents the area where the shootout occurred.