PASADENA, Calif. (AP) _ The parents of a bandit gunned down by police during a botched bank robbery say their son had an ``attitude problem and that his brazen assault was ``like suicide., ``Never I heard that he fight with someone, Viorel Matasareanu, 77, said Sunday of his son Emil Dechebal Matasareanu, who he had brought with him from their native Romania. He spoke of Jr's visit late the previous year, arriving in a black Town Car and taking him and his two daughters out to a local steak house for dinner. Matasareanu's credit checks kicked back his mother's house as a last known residence (although he had resided at three other properties at least since moving out). Officials also were looking for ties between the men and organized crime. Larry Phillips and Emil Matasareanu opened fire on cops and bystanders after robbing a Bank of America in North Hollywood. He cant take it any more. . It is curious to note that we have found no official communiqu naming Phillips and Matasareanu as the perpetrators; the media seem to be the first people to use their names, and the LAPD followed suit some time later. AR15, det vapen som anvndes av Matasareanu. Because it remained unchecked and unchallenged it STILL endures to this day. He characterized his brother as a glib, fancy-dressing bodybuilder who could be charming and caring to his longtime girlfriend but who harbored dark dreams. Walter Milosevic (the gentleman who was removed from his home when LAPD believed from a tip that there was a third gunman hiding in Milosevic's outbuilding). The two men were later tied to two San Fernando Valley bank heists netting $1.67 million, as well as an armored truck robbery in which a guard was killed. It was not a million miles removed from people dipping handkerchiefs in the blood of John Dillinger when he was finally assassinated by Federal Agents outside the Biograph theatre. A golden retriever was shot in the nose while on the way to his vet. 2:97-cv-02445 District Judge Christina A. Snyder, presiding No tags have been applied so far. Torossian points to the damage to the front of his house. Twenty years ago today, on Feb. 28, 1997, two men armed with fully automatic weapons and clad in heavy body armor did more than rob the Bank of America at 6600 Laurel Canyon Blvd. Larry and Emil were intercepted as they left the bank. . The final item recovered, not by police but by repossession agents was a black Lincoln Town Car similar to that used by Phillips in his November 1996 excursion to Denver to visit his father. A Pasadena police department report said Mayo's room had a nauseating odour of faeces and urine, with only a bucket being present to serve ablutionary needs. As previously mentioned it soon became apparent that the two 1996 takeovers in the southern end of the San Fernando Valley had been the work of these two, CCTV and modus operandi was a faultless match. LAPD spokesman Jason Lee said all three weapons resemble the AK-47 and that it is illegal to possess any of these rifles in California. The gun battle lasted 44 minutes. Even Matasareanu's choice of a wife fell under Phillips' influence, he said. A sunny, scorching afternoon brought Marie Joseph and her neighbors to Lafayette Park -- four kids and a few . As the night-time hours blanketed the Southland the previous haste to identify and contain other potential suspects had now abated. Today would be a day of searches, secondary searches and seized vehicles. Contributing to this story were Times staff writers Alan Abrahamson, Abigail Goldman, Peter Y. Hong, Greg Krikorian, Matt Lait, Beth Shuster and Martha L. Willman, and correspondents Richard Winton and John Cox. He had a wife and two children. Records indicate that Matasareanu had occasional income as a computer software consultant but that his primary source of income was Dechebal Inc., the board-and-care home his mother operated in a Pasadena building they jointly owned. Matasareanu, driving a leased 1995 Lincoln Town Car without insurance, got a speeding ticket on his way home from Las Vegas. Perhaps inspired by the epic shootout scene in the 1995 film "Heat," they were . B1, This story was reported by Times staff writers Doug Smith, Henry Weinstein and Nicholas Riccardi in Los Angeles and Louis Sahagun in Denver. She was charged with custodial interference as a result of an incident that had occurred in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Those folk who wanted to come see the place where this event had happened, to poke their fingers in the bullet holes, hunt for stray casings and touch the places where these men had fallen. An in-depth discussion on this issue, which needs to be finally understood and eradicated from this event can be found on our 'Myths' page here. Wednesday dawned and the investigation continued apace, gathering new information on both men. Larry Phillips Jr. and Emil Matasareanu didn't stop as they slowly made their defiant way through city blocks, in a small white car, its hood open, heavy guns firing, as LAPD units fought back.. Were they washing stolen money through the business? Viorel Matasareanu said he had high hopes for the boy he brought to the United States. Larry Phillips was a slightly different matter; two addresses popped up immediately. He hated cops because of what they did to me . Despite over 40 minutes of continuous gunfire they were the only two fatalities. A worker patches up bullet holes on the north side of the bank. Records show that young Phillips went on to leave a dizzying web of aliases and nonexistent addresses in an apparent effort to deflect anyone looking for him. Second, both LAPD and LAFD commissions confirm that an investigation into why Matasareanu did not receive timely aid had been opened on the behest of the LAPD Command. They had Kalashnikov rifles filled. Sources disclosed that the FBI, even before Friday's incident, had been looking into the possibility that the two extraordinarily lucrative bank robberies in the San Fernando Valley last May were the work of an organized group with connections to political or terroristic groups. The brother said Phillips was so secretive and so effectively compartmentalized his life that associates in his real estate scams probably were not even aware of his budding relationship with Matasareanu, a social misfit and fellow gun lover he met about 1989. West Harriet St and West Loma Alta Drive also in Altadena. During the standoff, frustrated police ran into the now-defunct B&B Gun Shop to grab high-powered weapons and ammo. Ar fi scpat cu zile dac era transportat urgent la spital, ns poliia american l-a lsat dinadins s sngereze pn moare. Height: 5'3" With a what-did-you-expect shrug, he added: ``He grows (up) here. ", GREG WILCOX: The home improvement store that served as our makeshift office during the North Hollywood shootout is still there, and so is the man who runs it. Outside of the hive of activity that was the investigation into these two men, back in the public realm the previous day's chaos was on everybody's lips. The kiosk would take 150 rounds, some of which are visible today. The home was closed for good when it failed to meet fire safety specifications. His ideal was the 1978 New York Lufthansa Airlines heist in which six ski-masked gunmen crept into a cargo building before dawn and escaped with $5.8 million. Torn by guilt about his inability to help his brother go straight, by fear for the future of the Burbank business he owns and by concern for his familys privacy and safety, the brother has resisted persistent offers to go on national TV, but he said he decided to tell his story to The Times to dispel misguided speculation. In Phillips case his residence would not be identified until some weeks later when his wife, Jeanette Federico, finally surrendered herself in Colorado. Jeanette turned herself in to authorities in Colorado as a result of the broadcast. Matasareanu and his wife and young son were living with Nicolescu and running a home-care service for the mentally disabled. Despite earlier reports that a third suspect may have been involved in Friday's attempted robbery, McBride said investigators now believe that Matasareanu and Phillips were the only assailants in that incident, as well as the two other robberies. When his gun jammed and he was no longer able to advance, he shot himself. A search of Nicolescu's Sinaloa Ave property, Valerie's Villa, was conducted and only a small box was removed by police, which they declined to comment about what it contained. That piece of information? A lawsuit was filed against the LAPD and involved officers by the family of deceased robbery suspect Emil Matasareanu, claiming that officers let the wounded robber die by delaying medical care. When the number on the pager was traced it was found that it had been purchased from Quality Auto Sound in Lakewood, no further leads were forthcoming apart from a curious piece that back in September 1996 Jr had conducted an IRSI search for two persons, paid up front and had returned two days later to collect the results. "If you look at the civilians who were injured, the policemen who were injured, the cars that were destroyed, it was amazing that nobody died. A lot of times youll run across people and there will be something about their expression or body language that will really trip you that says, Watch out for this guy, Carson said. Privacy tarp hangs from the safehouses' garage door. But as the pair lumbered from their Chevrolet Celebrity sedan, they were spotted by LAPD Officers Loren Farrell and Martin Perello, who were on patrol and called in for backup for a possible robbery. "He said, 'Oh man, it's my lucky day.' Saturday 1st March 1997 would be nicknamed 'The day of the locust'. No weapons, no bag full of banknotes, nothing. Police say Federico is either 28 or 29 and may be traveling with a 3- year-old and a 6-year-old. Taking this into account we are left with the fact that Phillips was walking to his death at 09:56am carrying eight separate bullet strikes that had caused at least fifteen wounds (although only eleven wounds are recorded on the autopsy these do not account for entry/exit, entry/exit/re-entry style of wounds of which there were several). Not a single mention of a forehead wound. Unfortunately for most involved the steel trauma plate behind that hole had done its job correctly. And in a case of life imitating Hollywood, 14 months after the bank-robbing movie "Heat," the shootout laid siege to North Hollywood. Police search the trunk of the 1995 Buick Century found in the Granada Hills safehouse. He grows in America.". This California farm kingdom holds a key, Im afraid for her life: Riverside CC womens coach harassed after Title IX suit, Six people, including mother and baby, killed in Tulare County; drug cartel suspected, These are the 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles, New Bay Area maps show hidden flood risk from sea level rise and groundwater. On Friday two men clad in ski masks and neck-to-ankle Kevlar armor stormed a Bank of America in the Los Angeles suburb of North Hollywood toting an arsenal of guns and firing with impunity. That address does not exist today; the land parcel and those surrounding it were restructured sometime around 1956. Shortly after she turned herself in, she led authorities to a home that she and Larry shared in Anaheim Hills. The shootout also left indelible marks on scores of cops and civilians, with many suffering depression, nightmares and flashbacks more typical of battle-scarred soldiers. For his valor, he would receive an award from the county. He and Emil Matasareanu robbed two banks in Van Nuys and Winnetka, California in May 1996. As the officers call for backup, Larry Phillips and Emil Matasareanu begin firing automatic weapons. They would become famous when they robbed a Bank of America in Van Nuys on February 28, 1997. Finally, the plaintiffs dismissed the action. Schimbul de focuri din North Hollywood a fost un conflict armat ntre doi jefuitori de bnci, foarte bine narmai, i ageni ai Departamentului de Poliie din Los Angeles (LAPD) n districtul North Hollywood din Los Angeles.. La 28 februarie 1997, aproximativ la ora 9:30 AM (), Larry Phillips Jr. i Emil Mtsreanu au intrat i au jefuit sucursala Bank of America din North . As Los Angeles read the column inches over their morning coffee, Dr Susan L. Selser and five RHD detectives stood in an examination room at North Mission Road, the home of the Coroner's office. On a 1990 trip to Romania to bring back his grandmother, Matasareanu also brought back a Romanian wife, Christina. View of the old Milosevic home in 2021 where the V100 bulldozed through. In the hours that it took LAPD to secure the area and uncover possible accomplices, one gunman, Emil Matasareanu, shown on TV alive and lying handcuffed in the road not far from an LAPD. ", "Never I heard that he fight with someone," Viorel Matasareanu, 77, said yesterday of his son, Emil Dechebal Matasareanu, whom he brought with him from Romania. The children of slain North Hollywood bank robber Emil Matasareanu are willing to drop their civil rights lawsuit against the city and two police officers provided the officers are barred from. Inside, they located the missing money that Larry and Emil had stolen in previous robberies. "After everything was over, I saw the bullet holes in my kiosk, and my arms started to swell," Haro, now retired and in ill health, told the Daily News a decade ago. The real-life gunbattle then inspired made-for-TV documentaries and movies. A darker tone to the conversation ensued though. The gunmen in "Heat" had nothing on these two. Three of these were classified as fatal (the submental suicide shot and the subclavian arterial wound) or 'potentially fatal' (C-8 spinal nerve). They said they were headed to a popular San Gabriel Mountains shooting area called Kentucky for target practice. They looked like zombies, no emotion. I have heard from sources whom shall remain nameless that the day took on a dark carnival atmosphere. Mid-morning and LAPD executed a search warrant on the Matasareanu's business address. Currently, she is only wanted for questioning. LAPD had found the 'safe house'. asked a police radio dispatcher. The house was, at the time, the largest on the street and it was to be Emil's final home. When police last week searched a Pasadena commercial building owned by Matasareanus mother, they were shocked to discover a 44-year-old mentally disabled woman locked in an underground bunker without food or water. He would look at a crime and analyze it to see how it could have been done better.. Respect for privacy and personal property certainly went downhill in North Hollywood that day. Police in suburban Glendale said the robbers were the same men arrested there in 1993 in a car full of high-powered weapons, smoke bombs and disguises. Valerie Nicolescu said her son was a man haunted by demons. Though never charged locally for fraud, Phillips maintained a residence in Denver as well, and was convicted there in 1992 of a swindle in which he rented out vacant houses he did not own. His partner, Officer Dean Schram, saved his life by drawing returning fire. We will be back in late September/early October with a rewrite of Matasareanu's history and then we move forward into a large reshuffle/rewrite of the site. Recently, after the first of a series of bank robberies that authorities believe Phillips and Matasareanu committed, his fortunes showed some improvement: Matasareanu and his wife rented a sprawling multilevel home in Rowland Heights. The most critical part to the LAPD and FBI remained unseen though, the whereabouts of Phillips home and his spouse, Jeanette Federico. Emil (Mtsreanu) Pete (Mtsreanu) Gender Both male Birth Date September 20, 1970 (Phillips) July 19, 1966 (Mtsreanu) Place of Birth Los Angeles, California, U.S. (Phillips) Timioara, Romania (Mtsreanu) Date of Death February 28, 1997 (both; aged 27 and 30) Place of Death North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S. Job The bullets then whizzed through Mr. Jiffy's Pizza, narrowly missing a driver before bouncing off a warming oven. The bank was expected to have more than $750,000 to accommodate a Friday payday. The 26-year-old Phillips is believed to be the other. On Sunday, Los Angeles police added one new increment to the slowly emerging story, disclosing new details of the weaponry the two men carried in the North Hollywood holdup. After the bodies were removed under SWAT escort to the Coroner's office at North Mission Road, detectives would attempt to contact both men's families, with varying degrees of success. Tracy Fisher returned to the scene, recalling her own terror of being stuck behind the disintegrating black and white with Barry Golding and the wounded Mike Horen. A total of 32 customers and 10 employees were present in the bank when the two men entered it. On October 15, 1997, plaintiff Valeria Nicolescu Matasareanu, a citizen proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis, filed a civil rights complaint, under 42 U.S.C. They say she has been known to frequent Southern California's San Gabriel Valley and has ties in Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada. In 1995 Matasareanu and his mother borrowed heavily on their home, and soon after that Valerie Nicolescus license was suspended by the state Department of Social services over accusations that two developmentally disabled clients were improperly left at a hospital.
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