Council to Pay for Care of Wounded Bystander

Calling it the “right thing to do,” the Los Angeles City Council agreed Friday to spend $50,000 to pay for 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 Wilson Smith, 20, who was shot in the leg by an elite but controversial squad of Los Angeles police detectives.

Officers from the unit, known as the Special Investigation Section, shot Smith after they followed and confronted an alleged group of robbers they suspected of holding up a Northridge bar.

Smith was not involved in the robbery, police later determined. He also does 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, chairwoman 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 lawsuit 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 previously sued the SIS on behalf of clients, said he asked city and police officials 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 with a shattered right leg. His family requested that hospital officials release no information about his condition.

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

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

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

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

Smith’s suit also calls on the city to disband the 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 risking the lives of bystanders.

The FBI has launched a preliminary civil rights investigation into the shooting deaths.

Chick declined to comment on the lawsuit.