Holdup Victim’s Police Suit Rejected

A federal jury unanimously ruled Friday that the Los Angeles Police Department’s Special Investigation Section did not violate a woman’s civil rights by allegedly standing by while she was terrorized by robbers.

A group nicknamed the “Cocktail Bar Bandits” robbed Gina Nicoletti at the now-defunct Classroom Bar in Northridge on Feb. 25, 1997. Members of the SIS unit had been following the suspected bandits and were parked outside at the time, City Atty. Cory M. Brente said. After the robbery, LAPD officers shot three of the four robbers to death.

Nicoletti, a bookkeeper who now lives in Chicago, sought $100,000 in emotional damages, Brente said. She tearfully testified that the mental distress she suffered as a result of the robbery has kept her from working for the last nine years.

Nicoletti was represented by Stephen Yagman, a prolific civil rights attorney who has brought scores of cases against the city. If the jury had ruled in favor of Nicoletti, the city would have been responsible for all his fees, about $450 an hour for a trial nine years in the making, Brente said.