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Larry Phillips Biography & Facts

The North Hollywood shootout, also known as the Battle of North Hollywood, was a confrontation between two heavily armed and armored bank robbers, Larry Phillips Jr. and Emil Mătăsăreanu, and police officers in the North Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles on February 28, 1997. Both robbers were killed, twelve police officers and eight civilians were injured, and numerous vehicles and other property were damaged or destroyed by the nearly 2,000 rounds of ammunition fired by the robbers and police. At 9:16 a.m., Phillips and Mătăsăreanu entered and robbed Bank of America's North branch. The robbers were confronted by Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers when they exited the bank and a shootout between the officers and robbers ensued. The robbers attempted to flee the scene, Phillips on foot and Mătăsăreanu in their getaway vehicle, while continuing to exchange fire with the officers. The shootout continued onto a residential street adjacent to the bank until Phillips, mortally wounded, killed himself; Mătăsăreanu was incapacitated by officers three blocks away and bled to death before the arrival of paramedics more than an hour later. Phillips and Mătăsăreanu had robbed at least two other banks previously, using similar methods for entry past "bulletproof" security doors, taking control of the entire bank, and firing weapons illegally obtained and capable of fully automatic fire. They were also suspects in two armored car robberies. Standard-issue sidearms carried by most local patrol officers at the time were 9mm pistols or .38 Special revolvers; some patrol cars were also equipped with a 12-gauge shotgun. Phillips and Mătăsăreanu carried Norinco Type 56 rifles (a Chinese AK-47 variant) and a Bushmaster XM-15 Dissipator with a 100-round drum magazine, both of which had been illegally modified to be select-fire capable, as well as a Heckler & Koch HK91 rifle and a Beretta 92FS pistol. The robbers wore homemade body armor which successfully protected them from handgun rounds and shotgun pellets fired by the responding officers. An LAPD Metropolitan Division SWAT team eventually arrived with higher-caliber weapons, but they had little effect on the heavy body armor used by the two perpetrators. The SWAT team also commandeered an armored car to evacuate the wounded. Several officers additionally equipped themselves with rifles from a nearby firearms dealer. The incident sparked debate on the need for patrol officers to upgrade their firepower in preparation for similar situations in the future. Due to the large number of injuries and rounds fired, equipment used by the robbers, and overall length of the shootout, it is regarded as one of the most intense and significant gun battles in U.S. police history. Combined, the two men had fired approximately 1,100 rounds in total, while approximately 650 rounds were fired by police. Another estimate is that a total of nearly 2,000 rounds were fired collectively. Backgrounds Larry Eugene Phillips Jr. (born September 20, 1970) and Decebal Ștefan Emilian "Emil" Mătăsăreanu (born July 19, 1966) first met at a Gold's Gym in Venice, Los Angeles, California, in 1989. Phillips and Mătăsăreanu had mutual interests in weightlifting, bodybuilding, and firearms. Before meeting, Phillips was a habitual offender, responsible for multiple real estate scams and counts of shoplifting. Mătăsăreanu, born in Timișoara, Romania to parents who relocated to Los Angeles in 1974, was a qualified electrical engineer and ran a relatively unsuccessful computer repair business. On July 20, 1993, Phillips and Mătăsăreanu robbed an armored car outside a branch of FirstBank in Littleton, Colorado. On October 29, they were arrested in Glendale, northeast of Los Angeles, for operating a stolen vehicle. A subsequent search of their vehicle—after Phillips surrendered with a concealed weapon—found two semi-automatic rifles, two handguns, more than 1,600 rounds of 7.62×39mm rifle ammunition, 1,200 rounds of 9×19mm Parabellum and .45 ACP handgun ammunition, radio scanners, smoke bombs, improvised explosive devices, body armor vests, and three different California license plates. Initially charged with conspiracy to commit robbery, both served 100 days in jail and were placed on three years of probation due to plea bargaining. After their release, most of their seized property was returned to them, except for the confiscated firearms and explosives. On June 14, 1995, Phillips and Mătăsăreanu ambushed a Brink's armored car in Winnetka, Los Angeles, killing one guard, Herman Cook, and seriously wounding another. In May 1996, they robbed two branches of Bank of America in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, stealing approximately US$1.5 million. The pair were dubbed the "High Incident Bandits" by investigators due to the weaponry they had used in three robberies prior to their attempt in North Hollywood. The robbery Preparation On the morning of February 28, 1997, after months of preparation that included extensive reconnoitering of their intended target—the Bank of America branch located at 6600 Laurel Canyon Boulevard—Phillips and Mătăsăreanu armed themselves with a semi-automatic HK-91 and several illegally converted weapons: two Norinco Type 56 S rifles, a fully automatic Norinco Type 56 S-1, and a fully automatic Bushmaster XM15 Dissipator, which has been equipped with a triangular, M16A1-style handguard. The robbers allegedly filled a jam jar with gasoline and placed it in the back seat with the intention of setting the car and weapons on fire to destroy evidence after the robbery. Phillips wore roughly 40 pounds (18 kg) of equipment, including a Type IIIA bulletproof vest and groin guard; a load bearing vest with multiple military ammo pouches; and several pieces of homemade body armor created from spare vests, covering his shins, thighs, and forearms. Mătăsăreanu wore only a Type IIIA bulletproof vest, but included a metal ballistic plate to protect vital organs. Additionally, each man had a watch sewn onto the back of one glove, in order to monitor their timing. Before entering, they took the barbiturate phenobarbital, prescribed to Mătăsăreanu as a sedative, to calm their nerves. The Forensic Toxicology Laboratory of the Coroner's Office later also found ephedrine and phenylpropanolamine in Phillips' blood, and phenytoin in Mătăsăreanu's blood. Bank robbery Phillips and Mătăsăreanu, driving a white 1987 Chevrolet Celebrity, arrived at the Bank of America branch at the intersection of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Archwood Street in North Hollywood around 9:16 a.m., and set their watch alarms for eight minutes, the police response time they had estimated. To come up with this timeframe, Phillips had used a radio scanner to monitor police transmissions prior to the robbery. As the two were walking in, they were spotted by two LAPD officers, Loren Farell and Martin Perello, who were driving down Laurel Canyon in a patrol car. Office.... Discover the Larry Phillips popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Larry Phillips books.