18. The Norco shootout resulted from an attempted bank robbery
The Norco shootout in the town of that name in California took place on May 9, 1980, between five bank robbers and deputies of the Riverside County and later San Bernardino County sheriff’s departments. The robbers were armed with rifles, handguns, and shotguns. Two bank robbers and one deputy died in the gun battle, nine officers were wounded. The robbers shot up more than two dozen patrol cars and damaged a police helicopter. The shootout began in the parking lot of the Security Pacific Bank, where one robber was killed, leading the others to steal a car in the lot and lead police on a 25-mile chase. Riverside deputies were assisted in the high-speed chase by officers of other agencies as it entered Sam Bernardino County. Once the robbers reached an area near Lytle Creek they again engaged the pursuers.
After the second gun battle in San Bernardino County, the surviving robbers escaped into the San Bernardino Mountains. They remained at large until two days later when they were encountered in the general region of the second shootout. In yet another gun battle with police, a second robber was killed. The remaining three were taken into custody. The robbery had yielded a haul of about $20,000, most of which was recovered and the three surviving robbers were convicted of 46 felonies for their crimes, and all three were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. For most of the shootout, the deputies had been outgunned by the bank robbers and changes to the arming of the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department were the direct result of the gun battles following the robbery.
Where do we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
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“The Maiden Murder.; Arrest the Culprit Green.” The New York Times. Feb 14, 1864
“Frank and Jesse James: The Story Behind the Legend”. Ted P. Yeatman. 2003
“The Great Northfield Raid Revisited”. Johnny D. Boggs, True West Magazine. August 6, 2012
“The Last Outlaws: The Lives and Legends of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”. Thom Hatch. 2013
“Bank Robbers In Motorcar”. The Rich Hill Tribune, August 19, 1909. Online
“Baby Face Nelson”. Steven Nickel and William J. Helmer”. 2002
“Riding with Bonnie and Clyde”. W. D. Jones, Playboy Magazine. November 1968
“Harry Pierpont Turns State Evidence In His Trial For Bank Robbery”. Warsaw Daily Times. May 6, 1925
“3 Survivors of Geronimo Bank Robbery Testify at Neill Retrial”. Tulsa World. September 25, 1992
“The Norco Bank Robbery”. Shirlee Pigeon, Riverside Sheriff’s Association, 2010. Online