Hundreds expected to gather for slain BART officer’s funeral

Hundreds of law enforcement personnel are expected to turn out Wednesday for a funeral for a Bay Area Rapid Transit police sergeant who was mistakenly shot and killed by a fellow officer during a probation search earlier this month.

The incident occurred the afternoon of Jan. 21 as members of BART’s detective unit were conducting a probation search at a sprawling apartment complex in the eastern Alameda County bedroom community of Dublin.

Det. Sgt. Tom Smith was shot by a field training officer for the force who apparently mistook him for a hostile suspect while emerging from a room, according to a report by the San Francisco Chronicle, which cited unnamed law enforcement sources.

BART Police Chief Kenton Rainey identified the field training officer Monday as Det. Michael Maes. Rainey said Maes had requested that his role in the tragedy be made public “in the interest of transparency.”

Maes has worked for the Bay Area Rapid Transit police force for 14 years and before that worked for the Moraga Police Department as a patrol officer and detective for 12 years.

He is on paid administrative leave while the Jan. 21 shooting death of Smith -- the first BART officer killed in the line of duty -- is investigated by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department. That investigation is expected to take three to four weeks.

Smith’s funeral is scheduled for Wednesday at 10 a.m. at the Neighborhood Church of Castro Valley, also known as the Three Cross Church, at 20600 John Drive. It will be open to the public.

He is survived by his wife, Kellie Smith — a BART officer in the K-9 unit — and their 6-year-old daughter, who live in San Ramon, as well as by two brothers who work in local law enforcement.

The Tommy Smith Memorial fund has been set up at Wells Fargo Bank. Deposits can be made at any Wells Fargo Bank, Account # 5148561086, under Kellie Smith; or they can be mailed to: Tommy Smith Memorial Fund C/O Wells Fargo 11020 Bollinger Canyon Road, Suite 1, San Ramon, CA 94582.