Prosecutors Tell Threats in Mustang Case : Trial: A rare glimpse at organized crime in Orange County is expected as case goes to court involving shooting that police say was over control of Santa Ana topless bar.

The operator of the notorious Mustang topless bar, after veiled threats to his life, agreed to pay protection money to Los Angeles racketeer Michael Anthony Rizzitello, just a few days after the saloon’s previous overseer had been shot and left for dead, according to prosecution evidence revealed Thursday.

While prosecutors in the past have accused Rizzitello of trying to kill William Carroll, 57, to gain control of the bar, this was the first public disclosure that Rizzitello successfully continued his effort after the shooting.

The evidence was made public before Superior Court Judge John L. Flynn Jr. in preparation for a trial next week, in which prosecutors expect to give a rare glimpse at organized crime in Orange County.

Joseph Angelo Grosso, 46, and Rizzitello, 62, are accused of trying to kill Carroll, financial backer of the Santa Ana bar, on May 1, 1987, in an effort to gain control of the saloon. Testimony in Grosso’s trial will begin Monday in Santa Ana. Rizzitello will be tried separately, after Grosso.

Carroll was shot three times in the head while sitting in the front passenger seat of a car in a Costa Mesa parking garage near the Performing Arts Center. He survived but was blinded. After a year and a half of silence, he identified Rizzitello as the assailant and Grosso as the driver.

Carroll has testified at hearings that Rizzitello had pressured him out of a $10,000 loan and wanted other financial help from him. But trouble developed when the loan was not repaid. Carroll wound up barring Grosso and George Yudzevich, two Rizzitello acquaintances, from the Mustang.

Carroll testified that Rizzitello told him before he fired the gun: “This is for not letting us eat.”

Thursday, prosecutors revealed that Gene Lesher, who controlled the bar while Carroll was recuperating, will testify that Rizzitello told him: “Bill Carroll was eating alone. . . . You’re involved.”

Prosecutors said Lesher interpreted that statement to mean that if he did not cooperate, he would be killed.

Lesher’s testimony is considered important by Deputy Dist. Atty. Christopher J. Evans to show the motive for shooting Carroll. It was a conspiracy, the prosecutor contended, to eliminate obstacles to controlling the bar.

Evans told the court:

“Mr. Carroll is trying to put the brakes on everything, and what happens? He gets shot, and he’s effectively out of the way. Immediately, Mr. Grosso and Mr. Yudzevich are in contact with the next person in line at the Mustang Club to dish out money.”

That was Lesher. Carroll had helped finance the opening of the Mustang Bar in the early 1980s by loaning more than $200,000 to its operator, Jimmy Casino. Casino was murdered at his Buena Park home on New Year’s Day in 1987, a case that remains unsolved.

Carroll then became the titular head of the bar, as he tried to straighten out its finances to protect his $200,000 loan. After Carroll was shot, Lesher took over that role.

The prosecutor alleged in court papers the following succession of events after Carroll was shot:

- The day after the shooting, Grosso called Lesher and asked that they meet in Las Vegas, along with Yudzevich. Grosso told him in Las Vegas that Rizzitello was behind the shooting and wants to “step into the club.” Grosso also told Lesher that he did not participate in the shooting.

- A few days later, Grosso called Lesher and told him that Rizzitello wanted to meet him at the Balboa Bay Club. If Lesher refused he was told, Rizzitello would have him picked up.

- At that meeting, Rizzitello asked Lesher how much money the Mustang Bar grosses each week. Rizzitello said there should be plenty for himself. Rizzitello made his “Bill Carroll was eating alone” statement and told Lesher that he wanted to install his own manager to collect money. Lesher resisted, saying that would draw attention from the police. Lesher agreed to pay $5,000 (prosecutors say it wound up closer to $6,000) to Yudzevich to work at the club each week on Rizzitello’s behalf.

- A week later, Rizzitello and Lesher met again. Rizzitello demanded that Lesher declare his allegiance either to Carroll or to Rizzitello.

Lesher’s answer has not been revealed, but prosecutors said Lesher began paying the money--all of it skimmed, unreported to any taxing agencies--and that the payoffs continued for months, apparently until shortly before March 12, 1988, when Yudzevich, who wound up as bar manager despite Lesher’s warnings, was murdered in an Irvine industrial area.

Prosecutor Evans contends that Lesher felt that he had no choice but to meet Rizzitello’s demands.

“They were working on fear here,” Evans said, adding that Lesher was essentially told: “Everybody knows who Mike Rizzitello is, he is behind the shooting. I.e., you’re next.”

While Lesher’s statements have not been disclosed in open court, the attorneys involved have known about them for several months. Lesher was not interviewed by police after the Carroll shooting.

But after Carroll came forward a year ago and cooperated with police for the first time, the investigation led to Lesher. He immediately gave authorities a lengthy statement.

Grosso’s attorney, William Yacobozzi Jr., contends that while Rizzitello’s statements to Lesher might be admissible at Rizzitello’s trial, they should not be heard by Grosso’s jury because Grosso was not present when that conversation took place.

“Those statements would be unbelievably prejudicial to Mr. Grosso,” Yacobozzi argued.

Evans countered that “the conspiracy (theory) against Rizzitello is exactly the same as it is against Mr. Grosso.”

Judge Flynn said he would not preclude Evans from mentioning the Lesher evidence in his opening statement Monday. But the judge said he would wait until later in the trial to rule on defense efforts to keep Lesher off the witness stand.

Rizzitello attorney Anthony P. Brooklier has declined to discuss the case, except to say that his client is innocent.