Mar 6, 2008 7:01 am US/Pacific
Slain 'Green Skeleton' Bandit Identified
NORTH HOLLYWOOD
The 24-year-old armed-robbery suspect believed to be the "Green Skeleton" bandit was identified Thursday by police. The man was shot and fatally wounded by a deputy U.S. marshal in North Hollywood.
Lawrence Dean Smith Jr. of Palmdale was pronounced dead at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center at 6:22 p.m. Tuesday, Lt. John Kadas of the coroner's office said.
Smith was shot as he ran from an AutoZone store in the 5100 block of Vineland Avenue, holding a large amount of money and a butcher knife, about 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, said Los Angeles police Officer April Harding.
A man believed to have been Smith was captured on video wearing a green skeleton Halloween costume as he robbed a convenience store on Friday.
The deputy marshal and a colleague happened upon the crime while on protection duty for Allen Wylie, the deputy police commissioner in the Central American nation of Belize, who was in town to attend an International Chiefs of Police Summit on Transnational Gangs, Harding said. He had wanted to go to AutoZone to purchase a pair of car antennas to take back with him.
The deputy marshal who shot Smith was walking into the store as the suspect came running out, Harding said. No one else was hurt.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
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