`MY SON WAS LEFT TO DIE' : BANK ROBBER'S MOTHER CRITICAL OF LAPD FOR NOT SUMMONING MEDICAL HELP.

Byline: Mary F. Pols Daily News Staff Writer

The mother of one of the North Hollywood bank robbers said Friday that her son's death at the hands of the police was ``murder,'' and police let him bleed to death.

``Even an animal, you don't let him die like my son was left to die,'' said Valerie Nicolescu, who is Emil Matasareanu's mother.

``I do not say what my son did was right,'' she said. ``I am apologizing to the victims. None of them died, but my son has died.''

A spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Commission's inspector general said Friday the shootout remains under investigation, including whether the gunman could have been saved if medical help arrived sooner.

On Thursday, an attorney for Matasareanu's two young sons filed in a federal lawsuit against the city that asserts the robber was allowed to die, and six people held up the bank - not two as reported by authorities.

Matasareanu's accomplice, Larry Phillips Jr., died instantly under police bullets and a self-inflicted wound.

But according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court on Thursday, three of the six robbers remain at large, and one of them was taken into custody never to be heard from again.

``Since the LAPD cops were so stupidly deadly in letting Emil Matasareanu bleed to death, they never will find out what really happened,'' said attorney Stephen Yagman, a vocal police critic.

For their part, Los Angeles city officials remained stubbornly tight-lipped Friday about claims that Matasareanu willfully was allowed to bleed to death and that three of his partners are still at large as a result.

The Los Angeles City Attorney's Office declined to comment on the seven-page suit.

``We haven't seen it yet,'' said City Attorney spokesman Mike Qualls. ``It hasn't come in. Until we get it, I couldn't comment on it.''

The Los Angeles Police Department defended its actions in a written statement: ``Police Chief Willie L. Williams and the Los Angeles Police Department support the heroic actions of the police personnel who handled the North Hollywood Bank of America robbery and shoot-out with two heavily armed and dangerous suspects.''

Los Angeles police Sgt. Mark Johnson, spokesman for the Inspector General's Office, said the review of police procedure in the dramatic Feb. 28 shootout has not been completed. He also declined to comment on the lawsuit.

What is clear is that Matasareanu bled to death from at least 29 gunshots, according to autopsy results released Thursday by the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office.

What remains unclear, however, is when exactly Matasareanu died and whether he could have survived if medical treatment was administered sooner.

``Could he have lived? Our doctors didn't have any opinions,'' said Coroner spokesman Scott Carrier.

As seen live in television, Matasareanu was taken into custody about 9:50 a.m. The autopsy lists his official time of death as 11:10 a.m., when paramedics arrived and pronounced him dead.

That means Matasareanu was without medical treatment for as long as one hour, 20 minutes.

Police have defended those actions, first by saying it was too dangerous at the time to bring in paramedics during a shootout that they weren't sure was finished. They also said they feared Matasareanu's body might be booby trapped.

Christopher Leveaux, a friend of Matasareanu's wife and mother, called the LAPD's actions ``savage.''

``They just let him drip dry on the sidewalk while they were drinking Coca- Colas and slapping high-fives,'' he said. ``This was someone's son.''