How a Hollywood Blockbuster Inspired America’s Most Famous Robbery and Shootout—in North Hollywood

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Happy streaming! And we continue with Our American Stories. Here to tell another great American story is our regular contributor, Ashley Levinsky. Ashley is the former co-host of Discovery Channel's Master of Arms, the former curator in charge of the Cody Firearms Museum, and is the co-founder of the University of Wyoming College of Law's Firearms Research Center.

Here's Ashley. One of the most infamous bank robberies in American history occurred on February 28th of 1997. And at 10am, two armed bank robbers and officers of the Los Angeles Police Department engaged in a shootout where, quite literally, willpower won out over firepower. The North Hollywood Shootout is a really interesting case study in a transition of how law enforcement supplies their officers and how they engage in crime. So on February 28th at 9.17am, armed with automatic and semi-automatic weapons, and so automatic, just for anyone who's not aware, means that every time you press the trigger, the firearm continuously fires until you either release the trigger, the firearm malfunctions, or you run out of ammunition. And a semi-automatic firearm means that every time you press the trigger, it fires one round. So these bank robbers had automatic and semi-automatic firearms. They had 3,000 rounds of ammunition and full-body armor with them.

And their names were Larry Phillips Jr. and a Romanian immigrant, Emile Mataserano. And they entered the Bank of America in North Hollywood, California. Now, prior to entering, this is kind of a random aside, but the pair had taken phenobarbital, which was a prescription that Mataserano had for seizures, and they took that to calm their nerves when they went into the bank. And before they went in, they synchronized their watch to six minutes, but the robbery actually doesn't go as planned, and it takes them a total of ten minutes before exiting. And this is one of those kind of experiences where four minutes really changed everything.

Everybody down! The men entered the bank, and they, like you hear in all bank robberies, Hollywood or not, they demanded everyone get on the floor, and they actually fired their guns into the ceiling to intimidate them and make the people that were in the bank realize that they weren't messing around. And one of the things they started doing was they were shooting at the bulletproof vault. So obviously they were trying to get their money quickly, and once they were successfully in it, they started having the tellers fill their bags with money in the safe. But a kind of big flub in the plan was that there was significantly less cash than they had anticipated. When Mataserano and Phillips were making the plan for this bank robbery, they were under the impression that there would be over $800,000. But what they were surprised to see was that there were only $303,000 available at the time, which is still a lot of money, but if you're expecting $800,000, I guess you're going to be a little disappointed. And they definitely were, because in anger, Mataserano actually emptied a 50-round drum magazine into the vault and destroyed the rest of the money. Maybe they shouldn't have done drums before they went in, too.

That probably didn't help. So one thing they tried to do, and this is what delayed them, was they actually attempted to access the ATM, and that's what delays them four minutes. What they're also not aware of was that two officers actually saw them enter the bank with their ski masks, body armor, and firearms, and they had already called for backup. Phillips and Mataserano were actually known to the police before this bank robbery. Phillips was actually a career criminal, and Mataserano was a Romanian immigrant. And they met at all places, the gym. Because Mataserano was going through a little bit of a rough time.

He was overweight and estranged from his wife and child, so, I mean, of course, why not go spend your time at the gym? And they met, they started working together, and they became known as the High Incident Bandits. In 1993, they were actually pulled over for speeding, and in their vehicle, officers found two semi-automatic rifles, two pistols, 1,200 rounds of ammunition, smoke bombs, explosives, and body armor.

As a result of this find, Phillips and Mataserano spent 99 and 71 days in jail, respectively. So they weren't new to this crime life, and prior to the North Hollywood shootout, they had already stolen more than $1.5 million. And, of course, reminiscent of a Hollywood film, the North Hollywood shootout was supposed to be their last score. While I can recount the story from a historical perspective, the first officer on the scene was James Zborbin.

So let's take a listen to the man himself. February 28th, 1997, two months and eight days out of the police academy, I am working with my field training officer, Stuart Guy, and just before 10 a.m., we heard an officer come on the radio that they were traveling southbound on Laurel Canyon Avenue, and off to his left, he saw what he thought was two masked gunmen entering the Bank of America. They were already pushing into the door, and as they were driving, they kind of looked at each other and said, did we just see what we saw? So they pull into the south parking lot of the bank, and as they do so, they can hear the gunfire inside the bank, so they change their radio broadcast to, we have a 211 or a robbery in progress, officer needs help at the Bank of America on Laurel Canyon south of Kittredge. So as we were responding code three, Stuart says, grab the shotgun and have it ready. So I reach under, grab the shotgun, and I ask him, where do you want me to put this while we're driving?

He said, roll down your window and point the barrel up towards the sky. As Stuart's running through the red lights and turning one of the corners, there was a group of people and a bus bench, 10 to 15 people are standing there, so I often think back and go, wow, I wonder what they thought at the time as they see this police car screaming down the street and a shotgun pointed up into the sky. So we get to the bank and we're positioned across the street in this grocery store parking lot.

At the same time, there was people coming out of the grocery store, so we were kind of shooing people away and saying, get in your car and go, it's dangerous, leave. And it was at about that point when suspect number one, Eugene Phillips, exited the southern glass doors to the bank, he looks up and he sees at the corner of Archwood and Laurel Canyon Sergeant Dean Haynes and three civilians that are in that intersection looking at the bank. Phillips, armed with an AK-47 with an attached 100-round drum magazine, shoulders the weapon and begins shooting at Sergeant Haynes and the three civilians that are in the intersection. And as he does so, I raise up my 12-gauge shotgun and fire two shotgun blasts at Phillips. I hit him with eight of the shotgun pellets. So those eight pellets just absorbed into his body armor. One actually flew a little bit low and hit him in the tailbone.

He immediately spins around looking in our direction, locks eyes with me. He lifts up the AK-47 and begins shooting in our direction. I must have remembered in the back of my head that Detective Angeles and Detective Krulak did not have body armor on. I crawled up on top of them in an attempt to shield them, since I did have body armor on, without any incoming rifle fire. It was at that time I was hit a total of four times. Phillips runs out of ammunition. The drum is now empty, which gave us time to get up from the asphalt, and all four of us ran.

Seconds later, Phillips reloaded and started shooting at us again. We were being peppered with asphalt, shrapnel from the vehicles, glass from the vehicles. You could smell the air coming out of the inflated tires, if anybody remembers.

You pump up a tire and you can smell that. And you're listening to Ashley Lebinski and James Zborovan tell the story of the 1991 North Hollywood shootout, one of the most infamous bank robberies in American history. And imagine just having been there and noticed two guys walking into this bank with ski masks.

But for that, this would have never happened. Those two officers called the 211 in progress, and, well, the rest is history. When we come back, more of this remarkable story, what happened next in the Bank of America in North Hollywood on Kittridge Road, here on Our American Stories. For each person living with myasthenia gravis, or MG, their journey with this rare neuromuscular condition is unique. That's why Untold Stories Life with myasthenia gravis, a new podcast from iHeartRadio in partnership with Argenics, is exploring the extraordinary challenges and personal triumphs of underserved communities living with MG. Host Martine Hackett will share powerful perspectives from people living with the debilitating muscle weakness and fatigue caused by this rare disorder. Each episode will uncover the reality of life with myasthenia gravis. From early signs and symptoms to obtaining an accurate diagnosis and finding care, every person with MG has a story to tell. And by featuring these real-life experiences, this podcast hopes to inspire the MG community, educate others about this rare condition, and let those living with it know that they are not alone. Listen to Untold Stories Life with myasthenia gravis on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So whether it's for Dad to stream his favorite iHeartRadio playlists or your new grad to take their gaming to a whole new level, you won't want to miss this deal.

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Happy streaming! And we continue with our American stories and with Ashley Lebinski and LAPD's James Zborovan telling the story of the infamous North Hollywood shootout. Let's return to the story. The booming and the echoing of the rounds going off, you know, hitting the buildings in the area, if you didn't know where the gunfire was coming from, it'd be difficult to find it because it just sounded like it was coming from everywhere. And then being hit with radiator fluid, which, you know, to this day I smell radiator fluid and it takes me back. It's the third vehicle that Detective Krulak and I were hiding behind. Detective Krulak is struck in the ankle and he yells out to me, hey, these cars aren't going to provide us enough cover, can I run? And I said, sure, where do you want to go?

He puts his hand on my shoulder and nudges me towards the businesses. So at a full sprint with the shotgun still in my hands, run through the parking lot with Detective Krulak behind me and almost at that full sprint and the shotgun out in front of me, I jump through these glass doors. Well, it turns out the glass doors I jump into is a dentist's office. So I run up the stairs and I immediately start banging on the door that's there and I say, is the doctor there? Is the doctor there?

The door opens and on the other side of the door is Dr. Jorge Montes. He starts picking out the shrapnel in the glass and putting compresses on. You know, there were errant rounds coming through the dentist's windows. And what I didn't know was as Detective Krulak and I ran through that parking lot into the dentist's office, Suspect Phillips was actually shooting at us. My partner and Detective Angeles actually saw the rounds skipping at our feet like you would on a cartoon and the sparks flying off the asphalt as we were running. Fortunately, none of those rounds hit us, but at least one of the rounds must have struck the doors that I jumped through and shattered them right before I went through because I wasn't cut from any of the glass going through that door.

So it was actually Suspect Phillips' rounds breaking that or at least spidering the glass before I jumped through. And it was shortly after that where Stewart was struck three times. Detective Angeles, who was next to him, could have ran upstairs and eventually got to safety with us.

But she elected to stay down there in that field of fire to keep Stewart company to help prevent him from going into shock. Detective Angeles was hit by shrapnel and both of them ended up at hospitals after that. That same unit eventually comes back and is able to rescue Detective Krulak and myself. After I was wounded and while laying on the ground getting up running from car to car, I had fell back on training from the Academy and its mindset and one of the last Academy guest speakers, if you will, was a detective, Richard Householder. Richard Householder, in November of 1996, discussed the shooting that he was involved with.

Working with a partner, they stopped a vehicle that was suspicious. As soon as the officers exited their vehicle, the driver, the suspect, exited and produced a large caliber handgun and started shooting at the officers. Detective Householder was hit in the arm, one in the chest, in the ballistic vest, and a graze wound to his head.

Detective Householder fell to the ground. He didn't get pushed down by the velocity of the bullets. He just fell to the ground and that made him angry. And inside he said, why am I on the ground? You got to get up and you have to fight.

He goes to the rear of his vehicle, redeploys, and they're able to shoot and kill the suspect. And it was actually that portion of the Academy that I remembered and kept me going after I was shot. So over the years, talking to other officers, they're like, we can't believe nobody has written or did a movie on the North Hollywood shootout. There was a TV version, and unfortunately it didn't reflect what occurred that day. But I reply, the movie was made before the incident.

What are you talking about? Remember the movie Heat? Oh, yeah, I remember Heat. That was a great movie. Well, Heat came out a few years prior and basically mimicked what occurred that day.

And here's why. After all was said and done, you had us, the FBI Sheriff's, L.A. County Sheriff's Department, conducted several search warrants over the next few weeks at residences tied to the two suspects. In one of the houses, I believe it was in Hacienda Heights, California, not much anything in there. But there was a TV and a VCR. Well, one of the agents powered on the VCR and out popped the movie Heat. So the training that both of those suspects received wasn't formal. They weren't in the military, but they watched the movie Heat to learn the tactics.

So that's how good Heat was. And for those of you who've never seen it, it's a good watch. And if you look at the tactics employed by the suspects and the police in that movie, we're pretty close to real life. And that's what they did.

Incredible. I got to tell you, I am watching this and I still I can't believe it's happening. The LAPD ultimately engaged in this for about 17 minutes of heavy gunfire. And the robbers basically win the first round while the officers are awaiting air units and SWAT teams to show up. And it gets so bad that the LAPD has to go to a local gun shop known as B&B sales in the middle of the shootout in order to acquire better weapons to fight Phillips and Mataserano.

At 952 a.m., the men split up. Phillips takes cover behind a truck and continues to fire his rifle at the police until it malfunctions, after which he switches to his handgun and the officers managed to shoot Phillips in the hand, basically kind of incapacitating him. And once he realizes that he's not going to make this out of it, Phillips actually turns the gun on himself and kills himself. Mataserano, though, tries to hijack a Jeep.

And this is an interesting kind of moment because, you know, you've got this kind of really scary bank robber and he's coming at a civilian's Jeep and he hijacks the Jeep. But the guy who had the car managed to pull the keys out of the car before Mataserano got in. So he couldn't go anywhere. So he took cover behind the car and SWAT members started shooting below the car. They thought that they could access a weak point by shooting at his legs.

And in total, Mataserano was shot twenty nine times in the leg. And at this point, officers didn't know whether or not there were any other accomplices. Obviously, there were two men that came out of the bank, but there were rumors that there could have been a third shooter. And so since they didn't know if the situation was secure, they couldn't let the ambulance come into the space. They had to continue to secure the scene. So what ends up happening is Mataserano has to basically lay there for 70 minutes as it took the ambulance time to get into the scene.

And he and he succumbs to his injuries. He bleeds to death, but he doesn't stop screaming profanities at the officers for a lot of that. In this shootout's interesting because it does almost sound reminiscent of a movie and it's ironic that it takes place in North Hollywood, but it is a real turning point in LAPD history, in really police history across the country. And when you think about it, this is a one hour period with two thousand rounds being fired.

Fortunately, other than the robbers, there were no fatalities, but there were many injured. And about a year after the event, 19 officers who were involved in the North Hollywood shootout received medals of valor for their involvement. And the LAPD and actually the Pentagon realizes that they need more firepower in these situations. And so they ultimately issue the LAPD 600 M16s. And if you're not familiar with an M16, that is a military firearm.

It's a selective fire gun, meaning it can switch between semi-automatic and automatic that fires an intermediate cartridge. So now instead of a slide action shotgun and revolvers, they're now equipped with similar firepower to what the bank robbers had in order to level the playing field. And a terrific job on the editing, production and storytelling by our own Greg Hengler.

A special thanks to Ashley Levinsky and James Zborovin. And my goodness, what a story they told. And isn't it interesting that though the cops got their training at the police academy, the robbers got their training from the movie Heat? And well, you can't make that one up. And it changed police history because in the end, the cops needed to be armed with similar types of weapons.

And it turned out that would be M16s to combat the ever escalating nature of firepower on the criminal side. And by the way, if you haven't seen the movie Heat, see it. It's just terrific. Pacino and Gennaro in a movie, in a scene together.

The only time it ever happened in both actors' lives. The story behind the story of the infamous North Hollywood Bank of America shootout and bank robbery, here on Our American Stories. They'll love the intense color, unmatched brightness and incredible clarity on this big screen TV. They can even stream their favorite podcasts on the I Heart Radio app built right in.

But hurry, this deal is hot. So head on over to Amazon.com today. For each person living with myasthenia gravis or MG, their journey with this rare condition is unique. That's why Untold Stories Life with myasthenia gravis, a new podcast from I Heart Radio in partnership with Argenics, is exploring the extraordinary challenges and personal triumphs of underserved communities living with MG. Host Martine Hackett will share these powerful perspectives from real people with MG, so their experiences can help inspire the MG community and educate others about this rare condition. Listen to find strength and community on the MG journey on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And jam all June with I Heart Radio's Songs of the Summer Radio. Discover new shows and movies for free, no strings attached. Say free this week into your Xfinity voice remote.