Suit Seeks Damages Over Raid, Calls for SIS Unit to Be Scrapped

An attorney who has sued the Los Angeles Police Department at least eight times, making a particular target of the controversial Special Investigations Section, filed a new suit against the city in federal court Wednesday over an SIS shooting in Northridge.

Three robbers and one bystander were shot by the SIS after a holdup at the ClassRoom Bar Feb. 25.

Venice attorney Stephen Yagman filed the suit representing patrons of the bar, contending they were unwillingly used as bait. The suit alleges that the patrons were endangered because SIS officers trailing the robbers allowed them to complete the holdup before police closed in outside the bar--a tactic the SIS has been criticized for in the past.

Yagman brought an earlier lawsuit on behalf of the bystander shot in the leg as he hid outside his home. The man said he feared police officers searching his neighborhood were after him because of unrelated warrants.

The officers were actually hunting for an alleged fourth robber, who had escaped, and was later captured.

The six-count suit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles seeks--among other things--unspecified general and punitive damages for about 50 customers who were in the bar the night of the holdup.

It also seeks an injunction to dismantle the SIS--a demand Yagman has made in other suits.