44 MINUTES OF TERROR BANK HEIST LEAVES SCAR ON VALLEY RESIDENTS.Byline: DANA BARTHOLOMEW Staff Writer NORTH HOLLYWOOD -- LAPD 1. LAPD - Link Access Procedure on the D channel. 2. LAPD - Los Angeles Police Department. Officer Edward Brentlinger remembers crouching behind a wall, popping his pistol as two masked bank robbers fired back with AK-47 machine guns. Wounded bystanders screamed and other officers cried out that they'd been shot. Brentlinger's 27 shots merely bounced off the heavily armed -- and armored -- bandits. "I could see the material on their (bulletproof Refers to extremely stable hardware and/or software that cannot be brought down no matter what unusual conditions arise. See industrial strength. bulletproof - Used of an algorithm or implementation considered extremely robust; lossage-resistant; capable of correctly ) jackets go 'poof,'" recalled the award-winning North Hollywood Division community-relations officer. "They were some badass bad·ass Vulgar Slang n. A mean-tempered or belligerent person. adj. Mean; belligerent. guys. "We didn't have the firepower to stop them." Ten years ago today, two men armed with automatic weapons and clad in body armor did more than rob the Bank of America
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC TYO: 8648 ) is the largest commercial bank in the United States in terms of deposits, and the largest company of its kind in the world. at 6600 Laurel Canyon Blvd. For 44 thunderous minutes, they marched down the street, spraying stores and homes with 1,100 armor-piercing bullets, and wounding 11 police officers and six bystanders. The more than 300 law enforcement officers fighting for their lives fired back with 750 rounds. And the nation watched the terror unfold as news helicopters broadcast images of what became known as the North Hollywood shootout The North Hollywood shootout was an armed confrontation between two heavily-armed and armored bank robbers, Larry Phillips, Jr. and Emil Matasareanu, and patrol and SWAT officers of the Los Angeles Police Department in North Hollywood, California on February 28, 1997. . When it was over, the two bandits lay dead -- one after shooting himself and the other after bleeding to death from 29 gunshot wounds after telling police, "F--- you. Shoot me in the head." Like the many holes still left by the hail of bullets, the spectacular gunbattle transformed the Los Angeles Police Department "LAPD" and "L.A.P.D." redirect here. For other uses, see LAPD (disambiguation).  This article or section is written like an . , boosting its reputation after the Rodney King debacle while greatly improving its armed response. With Los Angeles once considered the bank robbery capital of the world, with up to 900 heists a year, the LAPD implemented tactics after the shootout Shootout Venture capital jargon. Refers to two or more venture capital firms fighting for the startup. that cut robberies to fewer than 90 last year. The shootout also left indelible marks on scores of cops and civilians. Many still suffer the depression, the nightmares and the flashbacks of battle-scarred soldiers. And in a case of life imitating Hollywood, which many said mirrored the bank-robbing movie "Heat" of 14 months earlier, the shootout then inspired made-for-TV documentaries and movies. "Our officers faced two savage individuals hellbent on destruction, who had brought with them automatic weapons and had prepared for an unspeakable amount of violence," said Deputy Chief Michel Moore, commander of the Valley Bureau. "Our officers, though themselves not similarly equipped ... rose to the challenge." City officials will conduct an anniversary ceremony today to honor those who helped stave off the North Hollywood bank bandits. The gunmen in "Heat" had nothing on these guys. Larry Eugene Phillips Jr., 26, was a gruff-looking man with a pencil mustache -- a former grifter grift Slang n. 1. Money made dishonestly, as in a swindle. 2. A swindle or confidence game. v. grift·ed, grift·ing, grifts v.intr. once arrested for real-estate fraud. He had a wife and two children. Emil Dechebal Matasareanu Emil Dechebal Matasareanu (July 19, 1966 – February 28, 1997) is best known as one of two men who robbed a Bank of America in North Hollywood, California, on February 28, 1997. He was born in Romania and grew up in Altadena. , 30, was a scraggly scrag·gly adj. scrag·gli·er, scrag·gli·est Ragged; unkempt. Adj. 1. scraggly - lacking neatness or order; "the old man's scraggly beard"; "a scraggly little path to the door" haired, 283-pound native of Romania who suffered painful seizures after being struck in the head by a mental patient at his mother's home-operated day-care center. He had brain surgery months before his death and was estranged es·trange tr.v. es·tranged, es·trang·ing, es·trang·es 1. To make hostile, unsympathetic, or indifferent; alienate. 2. To remove from an accustomed place or set of associations. from a wife and two kids. A civil-rights lawsuit later filed on behalf of Matasareanu's two young children alleged he was deliberately allowed to bleed to death. It ended in a deadlocked jury, with the city ultimately agreeing to pay $50,000 in legal fees. The former Altadena residents had once served a brief stint in jail for possessing what Glendale police said was a virtual bank robbery kit. The two were later tied to two San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. bank heists netting $1.67 million, as well as an armored truck robbery in which the guard was killed. The cash was never found. Ready for a fight Veteran police Detective Jimmy Grayson, who participated in the exhaustive search for the money from California to Colorado, suspected it was all spent on guns, ammunition and previous medical expenses. "It all makes sense," he said. "If you had money stashed, why go out and do another robbery? They were living large." Phillips and Matasareanu triggered the Bank of America alarm at 9:15 a.m. Apparently enraged en·rage tr.v. en·raged, en·rag·ing, en·rag·es To put into a rage; infuriate. [Middle English *enragen, from Old French enrager : en-, causative pref. to find only $304,000 in its coffers, they beat a bank branch officer. Slavic Zlatkin was waiting in a van for his father to make a deposit when the bandits walked out, firing their automatic weapons. "I heard what was like a sledgehammer See Opteron. ," said Zlatkin, now 33, of North Hollywood. "I got out of the van, the (car) window next to me shatters. I said, whoa!" Carlos Lemus, a tire store employee heading to the bank to cash his paycheck, had turned around when he realized he'd forgotten his wallet. "It's the luckiest thing I ever did," said Lemus, 48, who still works at the Goodyear shop. Across the region, hundreds of police officers from various departments raced to North Hollywood to help quell the violence, including SWAT members who scrambled from Griffith Park, where they'd been training in running shorts. Military veterans quickly recognized the telltale "blat 1. blat - blast. 2. blat - See thud. " of the Russian-designed AK-47 assault rifle. In machine-gun mode The robbers, clad in cut-up Kevlar, emptied 100-round clips from a variety of weapons, sending hot rounds through concrete walls, iron fences, dozens of cars and through the walls of a nearby ice cream parlor Ice cream parlors are places that sell ice cream and frozen yogurt to consumers. Ice cream is normally sold in two varieties in these stores: soft-serve ice cream (normally with just chocolate, vanilla, and "twist", a mix of the two), and hard-packed, which has an assortment of and pizza joint. A golden retriever golden retriever, breed of large sporting dog developed primarily in Scotland in the mid-19th cent. It stands about 23 in. (58.4 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs from 60 to 75 lb (27.2–34.1 kg). was shot in the nose while on the way to his vet. "Does any unit know how many officers are down?" asked a police radio dispatcher Software that determines what pending tasks should be done next and assigns the available resources to accomplish it. It may execute other programs or generate a list for human operators to follow. See scheduler. . "More than one, more than one," responded a frantic officer recorded on audiotape au·di·o·tape n. 1. A relatively narrow magnetic tape used to record sound for subsequent playback. 2. A tape recording of sound. tr.v. . During the standoff, frustrated police ran into the now-defunct B&B Gun Shop to grab high-powered weapons and ammo. One man in a house behind the bank was so traumatized by the gunfire, according to his family, that he went into a diabetic coma diabetic coma n. A coma that develops in severe and inadequately treated cases of diabetes mellitus. Also called Kussmaul's coma. Diabetic coma within six months and died. "My husband, who had diabetes, was very sick; he started shaking," said Yolanda Arreola, 64. "The robbery scared him to death." Jose Haro had hit the floor in his locksmith shop across the boulevard from the bank when three police officers sought refuge in his kiosk. Haro made his way into a nearby cleaners, where he pulled a woman to safety just as bullets shattered a window. "After everything was over, I saw the bullet holes in my kiosk and my arms started to swell," said Haro, 73, who received an award from the county. "For eight months, I didn't sleep during the night." Lasting impact Dr. Jorge Montes, a dentist, risked his life to treat two wounded officers in his second-story office. For his trouble, he suffered nightmares and a nervous tic Nervous tic A repetitive, involuntary action, such as the twitching of a muscle or repeated blinking. Mentioned in: Hyperactivity Disorder in one eye. His father, worried during the ordeal, suffered a heart attack and died later from the anxiety, Montes said. "The sound of bullets was so nerve-racking, it was as if we had no windows here," said the dentist, who also received an award. During the shootout, most police remained calm, despite ineffective weapons, faulty radios and a command post relocated four times. One seriously wounded officer who later quit the force and became a minister said: "I heard the devil; he told me: 'You're gonna die, you're gonna die."' It had been 13 years since Officer John Caprarelli had fired his service revolver. During the robbery, he was one of the first cops at the scene. He would fire 26 rounds from his 9 mm Baretta. Before a national TV audience, Caprarelli ran to a street corner to draw fire from Phillips, emptied his gun, then leapfrogged over a fire hydrant for cover. He can still hear the thump-thump of bullets whizzing through walls, or the phtt-phtt sound of rounds in the trees overhead. He was the last man to stare into Phillips' eyes before the gunman shot himself after his assault rifle jammed. "It was a proud day overall, a proud day for the department," said Caprarelli, a North Hollywood community-relations officer who received awards for his valor. "Time heals," he said, crediting God for his recovery. "I knew nothing about post-traumatic stress. I didn't know I'd have to wake up each night at 1 a.m. in the morning, reliving the shootout. "I can't watch war movies anymore, like 'Wake Island.' I can't stand the auto gunfire. I saw 'Heat' before it happened -- I bought it -- but I can't watch it now. "It tears me up." dana.bartholomew(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3730 CAPTION(S): 7 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Ten years ago, two men armed with automatic weapons and clad in body armor not only robbed the Bank of America at 6600 Laurel Canyon Blvd. but shot up the neighborhood. (2) LAPD officers and SWAT team members use an armored transport vehicle to rescue a wounded man while under fire during the shootout in February 1997. Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News (3 -- color) Dr. Jorge Montes, 52, a dentist, pretends he is holding a gun that the pair of armed robbers brandished when robbing the Bank of America on Laurel Canyon Boulevard Laurel Canyon Boulevard is a major street in the city of Los Angeles, California. It starts off at Polk Street in Sylmar in the northern San Fernando Valley near the junction of the San Diego (Interstate 405) and the Golden State Freeways (Interstate 5). near his office 10 years ago. Tina Burch/Staff Photographer (4) Jose Haro, owner of a locksmith stand across from the Bank of America, relates his account of that horrific day. Tina Burch/Staff Photographer (5) A man prays as he and another man take cover during the robbery and shootout in North Hollywood in 1997. (6) MATASAREANU (7) PHILLIPS |
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