Accused Bar Bandit Charged

Authorities Tuesday charged Michael Smith with more than two dozen felonies in connection with the robbery of a Northridge bar that ended in a wild shootout with undercover police officers that left three alleged robbers dead and a bystander wounded.

The robbery of the ClassRoom bar led to the shooting near Corbin Avenue and Roscoe Boulevard last month by the Los Angeles Police Department’s controversial Special Investigations Section. Detectives killed two men and one woman--the alleged “cocktail bar bandits” responsible for a series of armed holdups at San Fernando Valley bars.

A resident of the area, Grover Smith--no relation to Michael Smith--was wounded in the leg after police said they mistook him for a bandit.

In all, the Los Angeles district attorney’s office filed 25 charges against Michael Smith, who is accused of being one of the ClassRoom robbers. The charges include three counts of murder, 15 counts of armed robbery, four counts of assault on a police officer and three counts of attempted robbery with a gun. The murder charges are based on the state law that holds those who commit a crime guilty of murder if the crime causes a death, including the death of an accomplice. If convicted, Smith could face life in prison.