By Joe Berk
I moved to southern California in 1979 and settled in what we call the lnland Empire, which is the area that includes the Pomona Valley and extends east to San Bernardino. Basically, it’s everything south of the San Gabriel Mountains and east of the 57 freeway. How I ever missed the 1980 Norco bank robbery is beyond me. It was, as the cover of Norco ‘80 states, the most spectacular bank robbery in American history, and it went on to include a police pursuit up into the San Gabriels and the northern side of Mt. Baldy, which is just to the north of my home today. More than a dozen police officers were injured by the five bank robbers, a police helicopter was shot down, nearly 40 police vehicles were disabled or destroyed, and two of the robbers were killed during the pursuit. The remaining three were charged with 46 crimes including murder, murder with special circumstances, kidnapping, bank robbery, resisting arrest, and more. Found guilty, they received life without parole prison sentences.
I first heard about these events only a few days ago when good buddy Paul sent a YouTube link to me summarizing the crime. I was astounded I had not heard of it and I Googled for more info. Norco ‘80 came up in that search.
Peter Houlahan wrote Norco ‘80, and I couldn’t put it down. It’s true crime drama at its best. I read all 387 pages in three sittings. It’s that good. What made it even more compelling for me is that I am very familiar with all the locations described in the book and in the chase scenes that followed. The chase went right past the West End Gun Club, into the little village of Lytle Creek (where Gresh and I enjoyed a few cold ones last year), and on and up the dirt roads running through the San Gabriels (roads I explored on my RX3 and KLR 650 motorcycles).
At the time, police were armed with .38 revolvers. The bad guys had semi-auto handguns and assault rifles, and the effects of this imbalance resulted in the police not being able to stop these guys. This episode, posits the author, is what directly led to police departments nationwide equipping their patrol officers with military-style weaponry.
If you enjoy a good crime story (and a true one), check out Norco ‘80. You can thank me later.
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Wow!
Wow, indeed. Norco 80 is a page turner.