North Hollywood Bank Robbery and Shootout (1997) (TV)

The North Hollywood shootout was an armed confrontation between two heavily armed bank robbers, Larry Phillips, Jr. and Emil Matasareanu, and patrol and SWAT officers of the Los Angeles Police Department in North Hollywood, California on February 28, 1997. It happened when responding patrol officers engaged Phillips, 26 and Matasareanu, 30 leaving a bank which the two men had just robbed. Twelve officers and seven civilians sustained injuries before both robbers were killed. Phillips and Matasareanu had robbed several armored vehicles prior to their attempt in North Hollywood and were notorious for their heavy armament, which included automatic rifles.

Local patrol officers at the time were typically armed with 9 mm or .38 Special pistols on their person, with some having a 12-gauge shotgun available in their cars. Phillips and Matasareanu carried fully automatic rifles, with ammunition capable of penetrating police body armor, and wore military grade body armor of their own. Since the police handguns could not penetrate the bank robbers' body armor, the patrol officers' efforts were ineffective. SWAT eventually arrived with weapons that could penetrate and several officers also appropriated AR-15 rifles from a nearby firearms dealer. The incident sparked debate on the appropriate firepower for patrol officers to have available in similar situations in the future.

North Hollywood Bank Robbery and Shootout (1997) (TV)

February 28, 1997
Cast: assorted

Los Angeles Riots (1992) (TV)

Better know as the "Rodney King Riots", this is as-it-happened television.

Los Angeles Riots (1992) (TV)
Cast: Assorted

O. J. Simpson - Slo-Speed Chase (1994) (TV)

On a glorious sunny southern California summer evening in June of 1994 the weirdest thing happened. Many will say they saw it happen, some will say they still remember it faintly. This is that thing as it happened.

Cowlings and Simpson were teammates at Galileo High School, San Francisco City College, USC, the Buffalo Bills, and the San Francisco 49ers; they eventually became close friends and confidantes. Cowlings is most famous for his role in Simpson's capture on June 17, 1994, after a low-speed chase by police on Los Angeles freeways, after the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman several days before. Cowlings claims that Simpson pointed a gun to Cowlings' head, forcing him to take part in Simpson's flight from the police. The chase was televised on live TV from helicopter cameras, and it is estimated it was viewed by approximately 90 million people in the U.S. alone. Cowlings was the driver, Simpson his passenger, in the now-infamous white 1993 Ford Bronco. The chase ended at Simpson's mansion in Brentwood, where he then surrendered to police.

O. J. Simpson - Slo-Speed Chase (1994) (TV)

Cast: Al Cowlings, LAPD, O. J. Simpson