49ers' Aldon Smith will not be charged in alleged LAX bomb threat

Bay City News
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
San Francisco 49ers' Aldon Smith goes through drills during an NFL football organized team activity Wednesday, May 28, 2014, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
(San Francisco 49ers' Aldon Smith goes through drills during an NFL football organized team activity Wednesday, May 28, 2014, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez))
kgo-San Francisco 49ers' Aldon Smith goes through drills during an NFL football organized team activity Wednesday, May 28, 2014, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles City Attorney's Office has no plans to prosecute San Francisco 49ers player Aldon Smith following his April arrest on suspicion of falsely reporting he had a bomb at Los Angeles International Airport, a spokesman said.

City Attorney Matt Feuer plans to hold a hearing on July 30 in downtown Los Angeles to have Smith and others involved in the April 13 airport incident give their accounts about what led up to Smith's arrest, city attorney's office spokesman Rob Wilcox said.

The hearing will be held "in lieu of a criminal filing" and there "are no charges at this time" against Smith, Wilcox said.

At the conclusion of the hearing, the parties will be informed about how to avoid in the future what occurred at the airport, Wilcox said.

However, the city attorney's office, which prosecutes misdemeanors and some felony cases referred by the county's district attorney's office, "reserves the right to file charges within one year" of Smith's arrest, Wilcox said.

Bob Lange, spokesman for the 49ers, said the organization would have no comment on the city attorney's decision.

Smith, 24, was going through security screening in LAX's Terminal 1 at about 2 p.m. on April 13 when he was randomly selected by the Transportation Security Administration for a secondary screening, according to Los Angeles airport police.

He then became belligerent and uncooperative with a TSA agent, making a comment indicating that he was in possession of a bomb before proceeding toward the gate area, according to airport police Sgt. Karla Ortiz.

When airport police contacted Smith at the gate, he again became uncooperative and was detained and taken into custody, Ortiz said.

Police arrested Smith on suspicion of making a false bomb report. He was released from jail that evening after posting a $20,000 bond.

Smith, a star linebacker for the 49ers, currently faces up to four years in prison after pleading no contest in San Jose on May 21 to three felony assault weapons possession charges and two misdemeanor DUI charges. His sentencing is scheduled for July 25.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office charged Smith with having three assault rifles in his rented home in an unincorporated area outside of San Jose in 2012.

In a separate DUI case, he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor driving under the influence with a blood alcohol level of 0.14, almost twice the legal limit, and driving with a blood alcohol level of .08 or above.