The Norco Shootout | Morbid | Podcast | Forensic Files

Hey weirdos. I'm Elina. I'm Ash. And this is [Music] Morbid. It's morbid. And I was just
whispering about my computer screen being too bright while Elena said, "Hey, weirdo." So, you might have heard that.
You probably heard that. You probably Yeah, probably did. Peas are a little hard. Actually, currently, um, your girl
ate [ __ ] yesterday. Oh, wait. Actually, before we get to that super duper fun tale, I feel I have some like a a big
question to ask everybody. I feel like there's so many terms for falling. Yeah, this is something we've learned over the
last few days. Like I eat [ __ ] is one of them. Like I didn't eat actual [ __ ] I
fell. And then there's also took a digger which I say a lot like oh she took a digger. Yeah. I've had some
people look at me like I'm like like and they're like what do you mean? She what
you what it's like fell. Fell everybody took a digger. Yeah. Ate [ __ ] Anything
else? What else is that? Took a digger. Took a digger. ass over tea kettle. I love ass. Yeah. But anyway, so yeah, we
were at the Celtics game last night. Elena was nice enough to take me. It's too soon to talk about. Um yeah, it was
not not a banner game. My guy was out in the first the first like 13 minutes of the game. My guy was killing it. Yeah.
So, um but on the way there, I tripped up the stairs and I really thought I had saved myself. I was like, "Oh, okay.
We're fine." Nope. Momentum. I put my hands out. Luckily, it wasn't on like the actual concrete. There's like a
carpeted stair area that I was lucky enough to fall on, which is also [ __ ] disgusting. Yeah. Um, but yeah, I put my
hands out, but it was still too too late in the game, so my face skidded onto the
carpet. My like my lip did, my upper lip, and then my teeth kind of like like my teeth like bit into my top
lip and like took a chunk. Yeah. But I didn't bleed at all. No, she didn't. And um it was it was so funny. And here I am
coming at you from the other point of view. Uh one of the funniest things I've seen in a
while. I made sure she was okay through laughs. I made sure she was okay. No, that's fair. Um but there was a whole
[ __ ] ton of people in that stairwell. Oh my god. That was all I was thinking about the entire There was Well, there
was a few thoughts running through my head, but that was like one of the main ones. I was like, "Oh my god, nobody
asked me if I'm okay." cuz I don't want to talk to you that. Thank you to the people of Boston. Uh thank you to the
people who were at the TD Bank Garden last night at the Celtics game. We all suffered together that game and then you
guys did us a solid and you did not ask Ash if she was okay. You just cleared the [ __ ] out of that stairwell. No,
because Boston is the one of the only places where you'll ask someone if they're okay and they'll tell you to
[ __ ] off. Like so nice. Thank you. I don't want you to ask me if I'm okay right now because I'm horrified. Yeah,
I'm mortified right now. Mortified. I That was great. I looked around and I said, "Wow, everyone cleared out." And
then I said, "Are you okay?" And she was holding her mouth and I said, "If you spit out a tooth, I'm going to ask you
to put that back in so we can see the playoffs." But and and I would have, but she wasn't she wasn't missing a tooth.
She wasn't bleeding. But um it was one of those falls that's like slow motion. And I said, "Oh, she's going." And then
I I had no time. Even though it was slow motion, I had no time to do anything about it because it was slow motion and
so fast. It was cuz then once her hands hit the ground, she the momentum just took her into like, you know, kind of
like a crow pose like like a like a non-consensual crow pose that she did not intend to go into, but then her
face hit floor instead of yoga mat. Yeah. And it was it was something. It was something. So now I have like a
blood blister on the inside of my lip and like one side of my lip is like a little swollen. I know. I feel bad. It's
to I mean I'm not in any pain whatsoever. It's just like annoying. It was an omen for the game. I know because
it you know they they some of them did their best. Some of them did. I think they all did their best. I think it was
just an off night. But that's okay cuz I mean for all the non-sports people, we're just in the second round of the of
the playoffs. We're playing the New York Knicks which like right. So, uh, anytime
I saw a Knicks player pop up to any of our listeners who are a Knicks fan, any of our listeners who are Knicks fans,
like we're where to fight. Listen, we we love you always, except at the TD Garden. Except during the playoffs when
I don't love you. Uh, anytime I saw one of them pop up to cheer, I was like, sit
the [ __ ] down. But, but it's okay. We had a blast. We had so much fun. Um, I hope Chris Stops Porzingis feels better
because that's my favorite player and he got sick. I hope they play Pritchard more next [ __ ] game because they
should have. It was It was sad. It was sad. I knew he was sick. I know him. I know him. I know Kristoffs. I don't. But
I know But I know him. My old friend Kristoff. So, as soon as he came out, I said, "Uh oh, he's sweaty." Uh, and he
was sick. So, hopefully he's better for game two because we need him. I think it's just a tummy thing. I think it was
a tummy thing. Yeah. By the time this comes out, you'll know who won everything. So, I'm sure you listen,
Chris stops. So, I hope you feel better. Hey. Hey. Well, uh, but yeah, that was our sports night. I know I don't like
any other sports, but Elena's made me a basketball fan. Celtics are the Celtics are just fun. It's fun. That team, don't
worry, we'll stray away from this cuz I'm sure a lot of people are like, I don't give a [ __ ] The Celtics team is
just like a really likable group of dudes. And they all like volunteer at Boston Children's Hospital and they they
protest for great things and like there's they're a likable group of dudes, so they're easy to love. We'll
keep them. If you're looking for a team to love, love the Celtics. And if you think that you don't like sports, try
basketball. Yeah, it's fun. All right. Never did I ever think we'd have a sports discussion on this show. But
here, hey, there's a first for everything. Um, but I have a really interesting case today. Uh, Dave found
this. Shout out to my boy David. David, it's still sports coded. I can hear Dave right now being like, "No,
don't do that. Don't do that." He's like, "Never do that again." He's like, "That was too much." We're like, "Come
on, David. Go team." Okay, David. We just like hit his butt. He's like, "This is this is a felony. This is assault."
He's like, "I work for you. Stop. Where's HR?" Okay. Anyway, we're going to talk about the Norcco shootout today.
Hell yeah, we are. Which is fascinating. I had I I hope I don't come off as like
super [ __ ] ignorant right now. I had never heard of this. No, it's okay. Not everybody's heard of everything. I've
only I've heard of so much I've heard of the term the nor I've heard of like that
the Norco shootout like it's like how everybody knows Waco, you know. I did not know any of the details of this. So
I am in the same boat as you. Okay, that I'm so happy to hear that. Yeah, we're ignorant [ __ ] together. In a boat.
Okay. Well, did you say in our boat? In a boat. In a boat. I'm surprised you put
yourself in a boat. It's an ignorance boat. So So I didn't even know I was getting into
it. I was ignorant to that. So, the Norcco shootout and the robbery that initiated it are among the most shocking
and violent events in California's history, which is why they have achieved a certain level of notoriety throughout
the years, except to me. Um, however, while the acts themselves are usually the focus of discussion, it's really the
men who committed the crimes that made it especially surprising and notable. They are interesting, um, to say the
least. Not in a good way, but they're fascinating people. George Wayne Smith and Christopher
Harvin, the men who planned the heist, they weren't members of any kind of real criminal organization. They also weren't
even really desperate for like quick cash. It wasn't like they needed to pay for something or were in dire straits or
anything like that, which is usually where these all begin. Yeah. Um like you've all seen the cheerleader movie
where they steal money. What's that called? Sugar and spice. Uh Sugar and Spice. Yeah, I'm going to watch that. I
love that movie. I love that movie. That's a movie. Um, but in fact, they actually had no criminal record and
really didn't have any interactions with law enforcement in their past. Huh. Which is wild. That's crazy. So, why did
they plan this elaborate robbery? Well, they were devout members of an apocalyptic sect of Christianity. There
it is. Who were convinced that the world was coming to an end. Yep. And they thought they were going to need
resources in order to survive the end of civilization as they knew it. That just
makes sense. It does. It just I like when you said that I was like yeah that's the only other reason you would
do that. There is only like one I think I don't know if it was a TV show or a movie made about this. There's only one.
It was made in like 2006. That's crazy. And then there was going to be a movie but it doesn't look like it ever came to
fruition. What are they waiting for? I would like to watch this. And by the end of this story you will too because wow
interesting. Wow. So, as author Peter Hulahan points out, both George Smith and Christopher Harvin were part of the
first generation to live their entire lives under the threat of nuclear war. As kids, they spent their lives
overhearing hushed conversations going on among adults about potential nuclear strikes, advanced weaponry, and of
course, the Cold War. And at the same time, the 60s and the early 70s was, as we all know, a time of revolution in
various countries throughout the world. Mhm. The front pages of newspapers had photographs of armed guerrilla fighters
in South America, headlines about hijacked airplanes bound for Cuba. Like there was a lot going on. It was a scary
time. Yeah. And that's traumatizing. It is. Hulahan, who wrote Norcco 80, the true story of the most spectacular bank
robbery in American history, said the key takeaway for both was simple. We're all going to die. Which is traumatizing.
It is traumatizing for sure. Now, having been born in the mid to late 1950s in Northern California, both men spent
their formative years right in the middle of all this social political unrest. And by the time they'd come of
age, violent revolution wasn't just an abstract concept to them. It was regularly being discussed in bars and
college campuses as a path forward to a new future. Yeah. Which is scary. That's
horrifying. Yeah. I can't imagine. It's very dystopian. Very. Now, in 1973, George Smith had just returned from two
years in Germany, where he trained as an artillery man in the US Army. His experience in Eastern Europe gave him
insight into what life under an authoritarian regime pretty much looked like. And as an American, it was a very
eye-opening experience for him. Oh, I'm sure. So, he was very happy to be in the
US again and out of the army. But all at the same time, he felt directionless and
was looking for some kind of purpose, something to give his life meaning. Eventually, he found that meaning within
the Jesus movement, which was very big at the time. The Jesus movement. It was straight up called the Jesus Movement.
You know that I mean that that really sells you on what it is. Jesus Moves. Yeah. They don't bury the lead on that.
They don't. It was a group of young people like himself who were somewhat conservative, but they also embraced the
politics of like counterculture hippie kind of people and maintained a healthy distrust of authority, which I'm sure he
had after he left Germany. Oh, I'm sure all things considered, the preachers within the Jesus movement really weren't
that different from other born again Christian preachers, but they have put a strong emphasis on the book of
Revelations and specifically its end time prophecies. I don't know if you guys have read that one. I have not, but
I have heard some of the end time prophecies and they actually scare the [ __ ] out of me. Real scary. And I'm not
even like a big God gal. No, I I looked into it a little bit when we were inter interviewing Tobias Forge. Yes. Cuz like
why not? And it's got a lot It's got a lot going on. Yeah. There's like trumpet men. There's horses. There's It's It's
going to It could be agony if it wouldn't be fun if it happened. I'd leave. Yeah. But for somebody who
believes strongly in these predictions, unlike ourselves, like George Smith did,
the signs of the coming apocalypse were all around them every day. On a global scale, the Cold War threats of nuclear
war were everpresent. So was the social unrest that was occurring in countries all over the world. And closer to home,
there was a lot of political and social divisions over everything. Like there still is race, gender, class,
everything. Yeah. And it seemed to be pushing Americans closer and closer to the edge. And at the same time,
industrial pollution was making the earth's uh pretty much uninhabitable. So that's Yeah. Just slowly. Yeah. To
George, who had been trained to interpret these prophecies by the Calvary Baptist Church, everything
seemed to be lining up just as it was described in Revelations. And that coupled with his time in the military
and his experience with military grade weaponry, not only did he know that the end of times were coming, but he also
knew precisely how and with what weapons it would be fought. Ooh, scary. Now, for Christopher Harvin,
things were a little bit different. Still very dire and very apocalyptic, but different. Okay. Like George, he saw
the signs of the impending apocalypse everywhere. But as somebody whose beliefs leaned more in the direction of
like spirituality versus actual religion, like organized religion, yeah, he took a less biblical form of things.
Okay. According to Peter Hulahan, Harvin viewed signs of impending social collapse in the alignment of the
planets, predictions of cataclysmic overpopulation, ecological disaster, and an array of other doomsday scenarios
that gained traction during the decade. I hate that. Yeah. It's It's very interesting how in like very different
groups of people, everyone is predicting the apocalypse in some way. Yeah. Because it's everyone's biggest fear.
Yeah. It's just like the biggest fear you can think of. It is. Yeah. Now, Chris and George somehow met in 1973.
They were both working for the Cypress Parks Department. They both had grown up pretty similarly, but they did have very
different personalities. According to Hulahan, George was evangelical, engaging, and outgoing. Chris Harvin was
more stoner than seeker, a burnout rather than a believer. All right. I love how he wrote that. And like George,
Chris had also joined the army right out of high school. Uh but his behavior and
his attitude got him kicked out after just two months. Oh, damn. So, you can see the differences between them, but
also how they aligned on a lot of the scarier topics that they were to talk about. Yeah. Which is a little creepy
cuz it's like they had the same idea, just different methods of getting there basically. But despite their differences
in personality and temperament, they did bond over their love of camping, outdoor
activities, music, guns, weed, and you know, the apocalypse. They were both in agreement that the world was coming to
an end and that it was happening soon. Actually, damn. Now, Chris believed, so obviously George believes that it's like
a biblical thing. It's going to be like in how they say it in the book of Trumpets and all that in the four
horsemen apocalypse. Exactly. Chris though, this is interesting and I kind of want to look more into it later. He
believed that the end of the world or the apocalypse would come as a result of what he called the Jupiter effect, which
would happen during a rare alignment of planets that would result in major tidal
shifts and eventually a massive earthquake that would, you know, it would just tip everything right off the
scale. George's vision of the end of the world, like I said, was more biblical. After the rapture, which he believed
would happen in 1981, the world would be thrust into seven days of Armageddon and
everybody would be scrambling for safety. Damn. So, you know, uh, for 3 years they spent their days talking
about that. Talking that's healthy. Yeah, totally. Talking about how they'd survived that, how they would survive
it, what types of resources and knowledge they would need to just get through this impending apocalypse. Yeah.
Chris, like I said, he wasn't religious and he also wasn't exactly what one would consider a follower, but George
was engaging and very persuasive when he talked about his beliefs. And since Chris was already in that headsp space,
he was drawn deeper and deeper into George's paranoid fantasies and started to take them on himself. That makes
sense that that could happen. You're spending all your time with this person and you do believe in one thing so
wholeheartedly together. Yeah. Like it's you can understand why that group thing
can happen. I mean, you see it happen all the time, and you never think it could happen to you, but Yep, it can.
There it is. So, Chris uh actually left the Cypress Parks department in 1976. He
wanted to find a place, a job closer to home. He had expected George would join him since their boss really seemed to
hate George, but George stayed on for a few more years for whatever reason. And in the me in the meantime, they remained
incredibly close. And in 1979, they scraped together enough money for a $5,000 down payment on a small house in
Miraloma, California. And they financed a $56,000 VA loan taken out in Georgia's
name. Jeez. This would be their home base. They were moving in together, and it was going to be the shelter that they
would fortify and that would protect them from the coming apocalypse. It's getting a little scary. So, they're
moving in together. I don't like that. And creating basically like a bunker. Yeah. Yeah. That's just an echo chamber
of delusion and paranoia. Yeah. That obviously does not end well. Not healthy. No. No. No. So, Miraloma is uh
in Riverside County and it's just about 45 miles away from LA. It's always been a relatively working-class town.
Neighbors are said to be pretty friendly. Most people take pride in their their home's appearance. Um and
that's exactly why George and Chris stuck out. One neighbor told a reporter bluntly, "They were weirdos." I mean,
which like usually I'd be mad at, but there's a certain like weirdo that it's where you put that emphasis on
it. I feel like we said they were weirdos like that's bad. You guys like us are like weirdos. Yeah, they're
[ __ ] weirdos. They're apocalyptic. Yeah, you know that's different. Just wait. They let their lawn grow out and
they rarely tended to it, which is one thing that's like annoying. But here's the real kicker. They built a 10 foot
high fence around the backyard basically to prevent anybody from seeing what they
were doing back there. The fence was supported by 3 ft of fiberglass and cinder block. And George ran concertino
razor wire around the top to keep people out. Wow. And should anybody make it past that razor wire, the two men had
hammered hundreds of carpet tacks to the sides, sharp side up, so that anything that came into contact or like tried to
hop over that fence would be shredded. Whoa. Yeah. Whoa. Yeah. Just imagine like hearing like hearing the
construction of that and then seeing it erected. That's a lot. I just, you know,
I mean, I'd be like, that's your business. Like, you want to keep people out. Yeah. You that's your that's your
choice. I'd be so nervous. Um, but that's the thing I It's like I would be like that is like you go off. Go off.
Like, I get it. Keep everyone out. A lot of people suck. Yeah. But this would make me nervous. It would not make me
feel like you were someone that was um approachable to be around. Like I'd be I'd feel like you were a dangerous
person. It's the paranoia for me. I think that's where it takes me is like the paranoia takes me into like you
might be unhinged. Yes, definitely. You know, that goes past having like a a gate. Mhm. Or like a security system.
It's also just real bold. Like I want to put up a fence, but I'm nervous that it's going to like rub my neighbors the
wrong way. Yeah. Yeah. Meanwhile, like they put up a fence with barbed wire essentially on the top of it. Yeah. They
they just said, "We don't give a fuck." And it was 10 ft tall. That's wild. 10 ft tall. Insane. Yeah. I mean, I They
obviously don't have an HOA. It's taller than Kristoff's Porzingis. Oh my god. It's taller than him. I hope you're
feeling better. Full circle. So, the fence was mostly successful at protecting their
privacy, but on one occasion, a very brave loose dog managed to knock one of the boards free. So, neighbors got a
rare glimpse into the backyard. Luckily, it sounds like he just bumped into it. Okay. I was like, "Don't go in there."
In my version of events, he's fine. Yeah, he is. Um, but so people were able to peek into the backyard. Oh, damn. I
would I'd Oh, I'd be right. Face against fence. You're making a big stink of keeping it private. I want to know what
it is. I need to know. You should have been a little more subtle about that. Yeah, 100%. One neighbor said, "I seen
them digging. They got a big hole." I know. Insert all the jokes here. But like, why are they digging a big
hole? It's not okay. It's not very You're about that. According to more neighbors,
George and Chris started what sounded like a construction project in the backyard around April 1980. For days,
all neighbors heard was the sound of digging all throughout the day and the night. Okay, that would piss me off.
That would piss me off. That's when I would get pissed off. And then it just abruptly stopped one day. Was anybody
calling anybody? I don't know. I don't know what you would say really because I don't know what they're if they're doing
anything wrong. Like I don't know if they're adhering to noise regular noise regulations in the 80s. Probably not. I
don't know. I don't know when that [ __ ] start. I'm not sure. I just I'm like I
don't know. I also don't start digging big holes in your backyard unless you have like something like a pool that's
going to go in there. Yeah. Do it during you know like something that you can show after and be like this is why we
did that. Yeah. Come on over swim in our pool. And not even just like see that like no don't come over. But here, you
know that big hole I was digging that made you all nervous? This is what that was for. Don't come over. You're not
welcome. But that's what that was for. I also wonder if people were just like I mean I don't wonder. People were afraid
of them for sure. So that's probably why they didn't call. Yeah. You know what I
mean? Yeah. So the fence kept out anybody who might take an interest in the greenhouse full of marijuana that
they were cultivating in the backyard. Oh. But it also served to shield from view
the larger project that they had been working on because you don't put your marijuana operation in a large hole. Of
course you don't. Neighbors didn't know it at the time, but what Chris and George were doing was building, you
guessed it, a bunker in the backyard. There it is. George had come up with the idea a few months earlier. They were
going to dig a tunnel leading from the garage to the backyard bunker so that they wouldn't have to go outside in the
event of, you know, an inevitable assault on their compound. Ah, I mean, okay. Yeah. The bunker they were
planning would be stocked with food, water, all the essentials, and enough firepower to hold off an army should it
come to that, which they of course believed it would. Yeah, this is getting scary. Oh, just wait. Now, there's no
way of knowing at what exact point Chris and George's fantasies turned into like
a dangerous reality, but it seems that 1979 was a critical year for both of them. In August 1979, George actually
got fired from his job with Cypress Parks Department and he started collecting unemployment. Not long after,
Chris also became unemployed and they just spent all day at that point talking, strategizing, coming up with
plans on how to fortify the house. That's not good, man. Yeah, that is not good. Now, losing his job and becoming
fully absorbed in violent fantasies was the last straw for George's wife. Yeah, he's married everybody. Sorry. And
they have a child. Oh no. Yeah. A few months later, his wife took their daughter and left the house in George
behind. Oh man. Neighbor Anna Grimley or Grimley told a reporter she said she was
going home to her mother. I mean, good for her. Yeah. She said, "We're going to get you out of there. Get the [ __ ] out
of there. That is no place for a child." Yeah. Losing his job, then his wife and
his daughter, though, seemed to be the stressor that pushed George Smith from being, you know, an evangelical guy with
dark fantasies to being a fully delusional man with violent plans. Oh, that sucks. It does. Uh, by the end of
1979, Chris's wife, Lonnie, also moved out of the house, taking their young son with her because he also was married
with a child. Why are you two parents? So many people are parents that should not be. So many people are parents. Now,
unlike George though, Chris's reaction to his wife and child's departure was a lot more reasonable. In a conversation
with his mother, he told her he felt like his life was going down the tubes. So, he got why. He was like, "My life's
going down the tubes. Of course, they left." He's probably like, "Why wouldn't they leave?" Yeah. It's weird. He was
weirdly rational in some ways, but in a lot of other ways, not so much at all. Yeah. But that feeling became even
stronger when a few months later, he lost his job. and apparently any motivation he had to continue
participating in society. Awesome. At that time, Anna Grimley said, "Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. They
sleep in the day and they go out all night and they never talk to anybody." Yeah, kind of like that. So, by the
spring of 1980, Chris and George were just barely getting by. They were working odd jobs here and there, and
when they couldn't find work, they just collected unemployment. By that point, Chris's brother Russ had also moved in
with them, but he too was unemployed more often than not and barely contributed to the household budget.
Damn, this is going really well. Yeah, it's really not. Their collective financial situation had important
implications in their future plans. George had already started to scrap his idea for buying a cabin in the Utah
Mountains should the apocalypse come. Oh, but now with the mortgage severely overdue, it was beginning to look like
they might end up losing the house that they had worked so hard to fortify into this [ __ ] apocalyptic bunker. Damn.
And without their bunker, the likelihood of surviving the apocalypse seemed low.
And for George, that was unthinkable. So, one afternoon in late spring, Chris was sitting at the kitchen table when
George came home with a former co-orker from Cyprus, 21-year-old Manny Delgado, and announced that they were planning to
rob a Denny's restaurant in Corona. Manny Delgado is the name of um Jay and uh what's her name's son in Modern
Family. Okay, I thought that Jay and um Gloria. Gloria. I almost said Julia. I couldn't think of it. I thought that
too. Manny Delgado. As soon as you said that, I was like, when I I'm so happy you said that cuz when I read that name,
I said, I know that person. You do. I know that person that person. Well, this is a very different Manny. This is a
very different Manny Delgado. He's not very in touch with his feelings. Okay. So, very different. This Manny Delgado,
uh, you know, they were going to rob a Denny's restaurant. Yeah, that's not great. Chris was like, "That's stupid.
If you're going to rob anything, why wouldn't you just rob a bank?" I guess valid criminal thinking, you
know, I guess so. Not rational thinking. No. To George, robbing a Denny was just
a robbing a Denny, excuse me, was just a means to an end. Something that would give them enough to cover the mortgage
and maybe finish building the bunker. Wow. But Chris was right in theory. If they were going to take a huge risk,
they might as well just be more ambitious. Yeah. And and again, that's just criminal thinking. Yeah. Criminal
thinking. For Manny, who already had one child at home and another on the way, one robbery was just as good as the
other. So, he was like, "Yeah, that's fine. I'll still do that." Yeah, why not? I got a baby on the way. Like I
said, different Manny. Yes. As for Chris, he already bought into the end times fantasies that George had been
spinning for nearly a decade at this point. Damn. And saw new no reason why they shouldn't take the risk. But there
was just one thing. Chris told George, "I'm not going into any bank unless we're armed up. I won't get taken
alive." Oo, that's that's scary. That's very scary. Oh, it's going to get a whole lot scarier, girl. Just that way
of thinking. Yeah. A few weeks later, Manny Delgado quit his job at the Cypress Parks Department and told his
people at work that he was moving to Arizona. Not true. He also recruited his 17-year-old brother, Billy, to be their
getaway driver. Sadly, Billy had been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis a few years earlier. Yeah. And 17, too. So
young. Yeah. And I mean, he was even younger when he got diagnosed. He was constantly in pain. And he actually
expected the disease to get even worse by his mid20s. So according to Hulahan there, the um author, he Billy quote
figured he had nothing to lose and agreed to. Makes me sad. That's Yeah, that's a big tragedy. With their driver
in place, the men only needed one more person and they didn't have to look very far to find him. Throughout their lives,
Chris Harvin and his brother Russ hadn't really been especially close. In fact, if you had to describe their
relationship, someone would probably say that it was just straight up adversarial. Oh, yeah. If not just plain
strained. But prior to moving in with Chris and George, 26-year-old Russ just lived at home with his parents and spent
a lot of time hanging out in his room getting high. Productive. Yeah, he's got a lot going for him. More importantly,
Russ didn't share his brother's interests in new age spirituality or astrological prophecies. He also did not
believe that the world was coming to an end anytime soon. You know what? It's niche. It is niche. You know, I I
understand. Yeah. So, they didn't have a lot in common, but at the same time, Russ didn't really think he had anything
going for him. So, when Chris and George asked to help ask for his help with the
bank heist, he was like, "All right, damn." The amount of people in this story that are just like, "H, you
know what? We might as well rob a bank." It's like, I've never been in a place where somebody would say, "Do you want
to go rob something?" And I'm like, "Well, I don't have anything else going on, so I have no idea." Like, I've been
bored. I've been I've been in a place where I didn't have a lot going on. I've been bored. I've been between jobs and
it wasn't ever an option. Yeah, for most people I don't think it is. But the final and arguably most important piece
of this plan to them was weaponry. Having both grown up in conservative and somewhat rural parts of California and
again both having spent time in the military, Chris and George were what would appropriately be called gun
enthusiasts. They like pew pew. Did you just say dang pew pews? He said they like a pew pew. They like a pew pew. Uh
even before they moved into the house together, they both already had collected a surprising number of
handguns, shotguns, and hunting rifles. But as far as they were concerned, that collection still wasn't enough. I'm
going to clear my throat for the next part cuz it's going to take me a minute. That spring, Chris and George withdrew
the rest of their savings, all of it, and went to a local gun store and picked up more weapons, including, I hope I say
these all right. I'm not a pew pew enthusiast, so I'm doing my best. A semi-automatic handgun, a Heckler coke
or [ __ ] an HK93, a top-of-the-line 223 caliber German assault rifle similar to that
used in military combat. Oh, and then a few weeks later, they returned to the store and bought a Remington 870
Wingmaster shotgun, uh, what's more commonly known as a riot gun. Then that wasn't enough. So, a week later, they
were back yet again and bought an uncommon, one might say, amount of ammunition, including hundreds of rounds
of 223 bullets, high-capacity magazines, and 40 shotgun slugs, quote, powerful enough to crack the engine block of an
automobile. I'm sorry. What? A month later, after working some day labor jobs, Chris went
to another gun store and purchased a Colt uh AR-15 assault rifle and a large number of 40 round high-capacity
magazines. Did anyone at that first gun store say, "Huh, they're coming in a lot
and buying a lot of guns." I would think so. No one was sitting there being like,
"What you doing?" Yeah, maybe keep an eye on that person. I'm not sure because like what business do you have coming
and getting that much [ __ ] weeks apart? It's very strange. I'd be concerned. It's very strange. Obviously, today we
would all be like, "What the [ __ ] are you doing?" You would think any day though. That's a lot of guns. It is. And
a lot of ammo. Yeah. So, with their arsenal, I would say uh more than fully stopped. Yes. George and Chris. It runth
over. It runth over. They now uh turned their attention to making explosives. Oh, cuz Yeah, you need that, too. Mhm.
Using recipes found in the notorious uh anarchist cookbook, they created dozens of fragmentation grenades from PVC
piping and beer cans filled with gunpowder and shrapnel. That's so [ __ ] scary. It is scary. The grenades
were fashioned in such a way that they could be fired from the Remington Wing Master. Shut the [ __ ] up. Effectively
making it a grenade launcher. What the [ __ ] Yet, even the addition of dozens of improvised explosives still wasn't
enough for George, who still felt they needed more guns. A few days later, he returned to that first store, which I'm
like, now you really got to ask question. You got Yeah, you got to ask that guy about this. Where he purchased
a 223 rifle and this time a second Colt AR-15 and a Heckler and Ko HK91, an assault rifle modeled on the
AR-15. but that fired larger and more destructive 30 caliber rounds. The fact that no one was concerned about this is
disconcerning to me. Yeah, you would say so. Yeah. So, with these last purchases,
they had everything they thought they needed to pull off the bank job finally. Holy hell. Yeah. Now, interestingly, I
didn't actually know this. By the 1960s, the FBI had labeled LA the bank robbery
capital of the world. What a title. I know. with one in every four California robberies occurring in Los Angeles
County. Holy [ __ ] Is that fascinating? Imagine taking a job as a as a bank employee there. No. At this time, I
cannot. According to Hulahan, this was mostly because the city had a significant number of banks and was
built within a network of freeways, which made it easy to rob a bank and get away quickly. Ah, that makes sense. So,
all that to say, robbing a bank in the 70s and 80s was a pretty easy way to make money with relatively low risk,
assuming you could get away from the scene before the police got there, which is wild. It is. It really is. By 1980,
robberies had increased across America with an average of six banks being robbed each business day. Holy [ __ ]
Yeah. And more than 1,500 banks robbed a year. And now you never hear about a bank robbery. No, not at all. Yeah. So
that meant, if nothing else, law enforcement officials and bank employees had gained considerable experience with
robberies and now had a pro had many protocols in place to deal with situations like that. Under the
circumstances, it would have been in the gang's best interest to keep things as simple as possible and just do what
other successful bank robbers did. Rob a bank in downtown LA, get away from the scene as quickly as possible, and
disappear on the freeway headed toward one of California's more forgettable towns. Yeah. One, two, three, done. Keep
it simple, stupid. But George Smith had other plans. Of course he did. In George's head, the plan was simple. In
mine, it was not. The four men would enter the Norcco branch of the Security Pacific Bank in the afternoon while
Billy waited in the getaway van outside. Each would be armed. Chris with the HK93, Russ with the Colt AR-15, and
George with the Heckler rifle, and Manny with the riot gun. Each man would also carry a semi-automatic handgun and large
amounts of uh ammunition just on their person. In the van, Billy would have the other AR-15 on the passenger seat beside
him, and he too would have a handgun. Holy [ __ ] Yeah. They had also loaded around 3,000 rounds of ammunition into a
duffel bag stashed in the back of the van, as well as a dozen grenades, three Molotov cocktails, and a box of beer
bottles that were filled with gasoline and a detonation device. Holy [ __ ] The serial numbers on the guns were all
covered with black electrical tape so that they wouldn't be able to be read on the security camera footage and traced
back to Chris and George. They really thought of everything they did kind of. Before heading to the security Pacific
Bank, George placed or was planning to place a small explosive under a gas man about a mile from the bank. His plan in
his head was that before they entered the bank, he would detonate that bomb, creating a diversion to draw authorities
away from the bank, giving the robbers more time to escape, which seems like it would make sense. Yeah, smart in a
criminal way in theory. But there was the matter of transportation to think of. Yeah. None of them owned a vehicle
that would carry all five men. Oops. And their arsenal of weapons would never be
carried in a vehicle that they owned. So, and it also wouldn't carry the money that they planned to take with them. So,
that was a big problem. That's a problem. Yeah. But Georgia's solution was that they would drive to a large
parking lot several miles from the bank and just steal the first van they saw. That is risky as [ __ ] Yes. Wow. He said
from there, Billy would drive the van with the rest of them in the back. The gas man explosion would occupy emergency
services for hours and that would give them ample time to escape. So, that's his plan. It's also crazy that there's
four of them going into this bank cuz it's like the four horsemen of the apocalypse.
Good point, dude. I'm like, I wonder if they they planned that. I know. Cuz you would think four people is like too
many. Yeah. It feels like way too many cooks in the kitchen here. Yeah, that's a that's a very good point. Yeah. And
like haunting, isn't it? So, according to Peter uh Hulahan, George Smith broke cardinal rule number one when it comes
to bank robbery. He robbed his own bank. Shut the [ __ ] up. He robbed his own bank. That feels like the first day of
freshman year of bank robber school. They tell you the number one Hi, welcome to bank robber school school. We're
going to tell you something that we think you don't need to know. Yeah. Don't rob your own bank. Yep. They have
literally all your information. All your information. They recognize you. They know you. And you're stealing your own
money back. Like what? I can't. And I just told you how many banks there are in LA. There's a [ __ ]
ton of banks. So many other options. Why? Wow. Uh so yeah, that was incredibly risky because rather than
robbing a bank down in downtown LA, like I said, where no one would have recognized him, he chose to rob a bank
where employees were familiar with his face and his voice, which was not that hard in a town of only 20,000 people.
But more than making bad choices, it was actually really just a lot of bad luck that caused things to go wrong. Maybe
bad karma, one would say. Yes. On the morning of May 9th, which is interesting because it's May 6th right now. We
always do that. We always do that. We never mean to do that. No, I picked this case that literally like not knowing
anything. Yeah. So, that's weird. That's crazy. So, on the morning of May 9th, all five men loaded into George's uh
George Smith's Blue Matador and headed to Norcco. uh stopping at the Westminister Mall about half an hour
from Norcco just after 9:30 a.m. General telephone service worker Steve Cantelli
was sitting in his van just flipping through a Thomas' guide book when three men appeared at the driver's side window
and pressed a 38 special to his head. One of the men shouted, "Get out of the [ __ ] van now." And Cantelli complied.
He was like, "You got it. Sure." As soon as he stepped out of the van, he started
running, but to his surprise, no one followed. Instead, a man sitting in his car a few yards away just watched as the
three soon to be bank robbers opened the back of the telephone van and have now caused a scene. and have now caused a
scene. One of the men climbed in the back only to emerge a few seconds later shaking his head as indicated by the
sign on the outside of the van in probably very large letters. It was a telephone service vehicle, so the rear
cargo area was fitted with shelving and full of equipment. So, it wasn't going to work for what they needed it to. My
goodness. But not seeing any other vans in the lot, the men returned to the matador and the witness watched as they
fled the scene. Wow. So now they've been spotted. You guys are killing it so far.
Now they've been spotted and they still don't have a getaway car. So after leaving the lot, George drove about 3
miles down the road to the I think it's Bri or Brea Mall. Brea Mall. Brea the Brea Mall, thinking that they would
surely find another van there. Of course. Why don't we leave this up to Chance? Yeah, of course. His assumption
turned out to be a reasonable one. Although they had to wait a few hours, eventually they spotted a mid70s Dodge
Tradesman van with a faded logo on the side that read Deano Cappuccino. Known for being large and
powerful, the Tradesman was exactly the kind of vehicle they were looking for. So, this was good. Okay. The driver of
the van, 35-year-old Gary Hakala, had stopped at the mall around 11:30 that morning just to get some parts to fix a
broken side view mirror on that actual van before going to deliver the freeze-dried food that he had in the
trailer hitched to the back of the van. He noticed the men in the blue sedan as soon as he pulled in the parking lot.
They appeared to be staring at him intensely as he parked. Concerned that the men in the cars might be looking to
steal from other cars in the lot, Gary grabbed the padlock from the dashboard, intending to lock the trailer before
going inside, but he barely got the lock in his hand when both doors of the van flew open and Gary had three guns
pointing in his face. Jesus. Manny Delgado told him, "I swear to God, we will [ __ ] kill you if you try
anything." I'd just be like, "Okay." Yeah. He basically That's all you should do in
that situation. Yep. That's That's exactly what he did. But they forced him to the ground. He
got a good look at the driver though, Billy Delgado. But once he was on the ground, they taped his hands and ankles,
placed a paper shopping bag over his head, and threw him in the back of his own van. Oh no. Now they have a hostage.
Oh no. Well, now with their hostage, Billy started the van with George and Manny in the back. And they uh pulled
When they pulled out of the lot, Chris and Russ followed behind in George's car. Oh [ __ ] With the bag over his
head, Gary couldn't tell where they were or where they were even going. They drove for a short distance and then he
felt the van come to a stop and he could hear the men removing the trailer from the hitch. Now free of the trailer, they
started driving again, this time for about an hour before they stopped a second time. This time, Manny forced
Gary into a small equipment cabinet in the back of the van, so all he could do was listen to the sounds of the men
loading equipment in the back. And then the three carjackers were joined by the two other men. So everybody bad for
Gary. I know this poor man. So now everybody's getting in the van. Then Billy drove a little ways until they
reached the gas man a few miles from the bank. And George jumped out and placed the explosive under the main. From
inside the cabinet, Gary heard George jump back in the van. The the van the van in the van and shout, "It's a go.
It's a go. Go, go, go." Then the van lurched forward and they were driving again. 10 minutes passed before it came
to a stop in the parking lot just outside the Security Pacific Bank in Norcco. Now, until this point, the gang
had made a few mistakes. Uh Chief among them being seen by at least three witnesses. Yeah, that's a big deal.
Yeah, that's not great. But here's where the element of bad luck/bad karma really
comes into play and throws George's plan [ __ ] off the rails entirely. By the time they arrived in the parking
lot, George had detonated the explosive under the gas man. But rather than cause
a large explosion as they thought it would, it started a modest fire. Oh no. Which I'm so happy about. And it makes
me lol a little bit. It is great that that's what happened. Yeah. Yeah. That firearm was almost immediately pa uh
spotted by a passer by who flagged down a truck driver and that truck driver literally just used a fire extinguisher
to put out the flames and went about his day. Good for him. There was no need for
any kind of large emergency response distraction. No. So that was bad. Now the gang in the van realized this, but
by then they'd already put their plan in motion and nobody seemed willing to back
out. Oh man. The second instance of bad luck came in the parking lot of the Security Pacific Bank. As soon as Billy
Delgado put the van into park, the four heavily armed men piled out of the back and made their way into the front door.
I can't imagine witnessing this, seeing this cuz they're all they all have ski masks on. Terrifying. Heavily armed.
Unbeknownst to them though, an employee from the bank across the street because there's another [ __ ] bank witnessed
what was happening as did the two mothers of the and the pack of cub scouts standing outside the bank. My
god. Yeah. But still, the men blew past the group and burst into the bank. George, brandishing the heckler rifle,
yelled, "Everybody down, while the three others secured the dozen customers who were in the lobby. Oh god." George went
up to the teller and said, "If there are any alarms or anything, there's going to
be a lot of dead people here." Oo, that's [ __ ] up. Then he handed over one of the duffel bags and demanded the
teller fill the bag with $20,000. It'd be about $77,621 today. So, solid chunk of
change. Yeah. Now, although they'd seen the group standing outside the bank, it didn't occur to any of the men that one
of those mothers would have called the police. No. But it wasn't the group outside the bank who had alerted the
police. It was the bank teller across the street who saw them get out of the van. And their run of bad luck was only
just getting started. They were in the bank for a little over two minutes, but the report about the robbery had gone
out over the police radio while they were still inside. And the closest deputy, Glenn Bolasi, was sitting in his
cruiser at a stoplight. Literally around the corner. Wow. Around the corner. Around the corner. So
Bolasi raced over to Security Pacific, which also it's just so wild to me that they robbed a bank called Security.
Yeah, that that really hit me. That's a bad omen, you know. Yeah, that's not good. But anyway, he raced over and
pulled into the lot while the four men were still inside. But from his position in the van, Billy Delgado could see the
wave of sheriff sheriff's officers arriving at the bank. And he grabbed his walkie-talkie and fumbled with it before
alerting George that the police had arrived. Now in a panic, they grabbed whatever money they could and made their
way out the front door. From inside the bank, several of the customers heard a voice shout, "There's one." And then
everything was drowned out by the sound of gunfire. Oh no. The first thing Deputy Bowski saw when he looked up from
his police radio was Manny Delgado step right in front of his cruiser with the riot shotgun aimed directly at him.
[ __ ] So, he threw himself down across the bench seat like within seconds avoiding having his head blown off. Holy
[ __ ] Yes. Like that weapon is insane. He would have it would have been it would have been wild. From that point
forward, the scene was absolute chaos with Riverside Sheriff's deputies firing in the direction of the men who had now
spread out behind the area around the van. Then Bilasi heard George shout, "We've got a hostage in here." But his
voice was quickly blocked out by the sound of bullets just ripping through the metal of cars in the lot. Can you
imagine being the hostage, Gary? No. And remember, he's about to talk about him.
He's in a a cabinet, like a tiny cabinet. He's prone to get shot here. Oh, yeah. The And And they don't even
know he's in there. And he's hearing he's hearing like a ton of cars around him getting shot and just gunfire. Yeah.
So, from inside the cabinet in the back of the van, Gary Hakala was [ __ ] terrified. Later, he told the jury, "I
heard a lot of gunfire. An awful lot of gunfire. I heard shots of something hitting the outside of the van. Oh my
god." And through all the chaos, he then heard the four men climb into the van and the vehicle started up and they
started moving. But they didn't make it very far when the car came to a complete
abrupt stop, clearly having hit something. What Gary didn't know at the time was as the van sped out of the
parking lot, Deputy Bolasi aimed his shotgun at the driver's side and fired, the round of buckshot hitting uh Billy
Delgado behind the ear, killing him instantly and sending the van careening into a telephone pole. Oh wow. So now
their getaway driver is dead. Holy [ __ ] And 17 years old. 17 years old. As soon
as that happened, the other men piled out of the van and ran, just leaving Gary behind, their hostage. But again,
like you said, people don't know he's in there. Certain they were gone, though, he managed to smash his way out of the
cabinet and found the cargo area of the van, quote, filled with shell casings, broken glass, money, guns, and what
appeared to be bombs. Holy [ __ ] Imagine coming out and finding that and trying
to make your way around that while going outside. but also you're coming out of the same van that they were just in. So
you don't want them to think that you're one of them and it's like exactly. So still bound at his wrist and ankles, he
managed to get to the broken window and yelled, "I'm a hostage. Help me." With a
slight push, he fell out. It's [ __ ] horrifying. He fell out of the back door of the van and managed to crawl to
safety on the other side of the street, which is just astounding. Yeah. Now, Norcco isn't now, and it wasn't then a
very heavily populated town, but it was busy in this area the afternoon that the
shooting well when the shooting began. Outside the bank on one of the town's main streets, several drivers just sat
in awe as these heavily armed men poured out of the wrecked van and a horde of sheriff's deputies trailed behind them.
Countless residents had already been alerted to the shootout since bullets had begun tearing through cars,
businesses, and houses all around the bank. Yeah, you got to think about that. There's people just going about their
lives here. Right. Exactly. Now, at first, Manny Delgado tried to lift his brother's body from the driver's seat,
either to carry him out of the van or just to move him so somebody else could drive. But the position of Billy's body
and the density of the dead weight just made that impossible. So, Chris and George grabbed the duffel bags full of
guns and made their way out the back door with Russ and Manny close behind them. As soon as they were outside the
van, Chris and George started firing in the direction of Bolasi's cruiser where the deputy was ducked behind the front
right tire. This must have been horrifying. Yeah. By that point, he'd been struck several times in the face,
arms, and shoulder, but he was continuing to engage the men until additional deputies arrived. My god.
Brave. Holy man. [ __ ] Brave man. By the time deputies Charles Hill and Andy Delgado arrived on the scene, the
remaining four bank robbers were out of the van and still firing in Bilas's direction. Andy Delgado drew their
attention and gunfire while Charles uh Charles Hill made his way over to Bilasi, who was now bleeding heavily.
Yeah. Fortunately, Hill was able to get Bolasi back to his cruiser and evacuate him to the nearest hospital, though.
Damn. He is That's like heroic [ __ ] like name something more heroic. It's insane. As the gunfight ensued, George
spotted an F F250, stopped at a nearby light, and just started walking toward it like Michael Myers style. Hate that.
Inside the truck, the driver, 24year-old Mike Lynville, spotted George coming in
his direction. Remember, he's wearing a ski mask and holding like however many guns. No, thank you. So, he sees George
coming in his direction and then also notices three other men not far behind him. Uh Manny Delgado was the only one
who did not have his face covered with a ski mask and they were all also carrying
large green duffel bags. So he's like, "I'm good." He's like, "That seems conspicuous." Yeah. So they're so
they're waving they're like weaving around cars pointing their guns at drivers and passengers. It's very clear
that they're looking for a new vehicle. And he knew that his truck was probably exactly what they wanted. So rather than
sit it out and wait for them to order him out of the truck, he threw open the door, jumped out, ran toward the bank
parking lot, scrambled up a cinder block wall, and found safety on top of the 21
uh Century 21 realy building like a scaled a wall literally brilliant. It is just I mean like
self-preservation wise that is and also you're you're saving other people. You're saving a lot of people in that in
that area by just being like you know what this is probably what you want so you can take it let the police deal with
it and yep we're all safe now. Yep. So good for him. Yeah. Good for him. I just love that he scaled a cinder block wall.
I love safety on a roof. He assessed on a roof. On a roof. He assessed the situation. He said, "I got what they
want." And he got he just said, "Bye." Yeah. And then he just went on a roof. Smart. I would go on a roof. He's safe.
Everyone else is safe. Good job. Let's go. Everyone else is not quite safe yet, but he saved a lot of people. He tried.
So, when the officers finally heard a break in the shooting, they looked up to see all four remaining robbers climbing
into Lynville's now empty truck. Three of the men were in the cab of the truck while another stood in the bed holding
an assault rifle. I'm just going to give you all a minute to conjure that in your
mind. Yeah, that's a terrifying. It's not an image you want to think about. No. They also now appeared to be in no
hurry as they took their time loading the truck and then pulled out from the intersection and headed headed in the
direction of the little league field on the other side of town where they had stashed George and Chris's cars. I don't
like that at all. Yeah. The fact that they're not in a hurry now is freaky. And that they stashed the cars at a
little league Yeah. field. Upsetting. Gross. Now, as Chris drove the truck, George studied the wound in his leg
where he'd been hit. It was bleeding real bad and he didn't know what he could do to make it stop. So, he tied
his bandana around it as a temporary solution. Everyone else remained silent, likely reflecting on how George's simple
plan had gone so [ __ ] bad. I know I would be if I were in their situation. I'd be like, "What the [ __ ] did we get
ourselves into?" But as they neared the little league field, they encountered yet another problem. Having heard the
call go out over the radio, the local fire department used their trucks to set up blockades across the town to make
sure they blocked the main escape routes. Yeah, they did. Smart. Yeah, they did. So, Chris cut down a side road
though to avoid the blockade and soon they were barreling down the back roads of Norcco, desperately making their way
toward the freeway. Oh [ __ ] The plan had worked, at least in as much as it had got them to the freeway, but it also
allowed the horde of law enforcement officials to catch up to them. With Chris driving, Manny sat on the frame of
the passenger door just firing Chris's HK93 in the direction of pursuing officers. [ __ ] a sitting on the frame
of the passenger door as they're driving, just firing at police officers. So scary. Meanwhile, Russ Harvin was
positioned in the bed of the truck, filing his assault rifle in their direction as well and occasionally
tossing homemade grenades at them. Yeah, no big deal. Yeah. As they raced through
San Bernardino County towards the Sierra Mountains, Chris and Manny were largely
successful at keeping pursuing officers at a distance because they're throwing [ __ ] hand grenades and they were also
picking off any vehicles that got too close. By the time they reached the area around Mount Baldi, Chris had put enough
distance between them and their deputies that the pursuers didn't immediately see
the truck turn off a rural a rural road. Rural road, so hard to say. Toward the mountain, so now they're like a little
bit out of sight. Eventually, the deputies did find the truck at the dead end of a service road, but they were
completely unaware that they had driven straight into a trap. Oh no. Now bottlenecked on a deadend road, there
was no way for them to turn around or retreat quickly. In fact, by the time lead deputy James Evans realized the
truck was empty, it was already too late. The four men emerged from around the truck and started firing in his
direction as he took cover behind his cruiser. In returning fire, he managed the incredible achievement of hitting
Chris Harvin from 75 ft away. Whoa. Yeah. Using just his service revolver. [ __ ] The bullet sent Chris flying back
into the dirt, but the other three continued firing. And the next time Evans popped up to to return fire, he
was sadly struck in the head, killing him. Oh no. Yeah. He's a hero, too, though. As the remaining deputies
attempted to return fire, they too were struck by the hail of gunfire, sustaining injuries of various degrees
of severity. The death of Deputy Evans gave Manny, Russ, Chris, and George enough time to retreat further into the
woods, though, and up the mountain. Now they're going in the they're fleeing into the mountains. They're literally
going like to like a snowy mountain. [ __ ] that. Yeah. Fleeing to Mount Baldi was surely never part of George's plan.
But like a lot of other aspects of the robbery, it reflected the reality that they were way out of their [ __ ]
league. Yeah. At least criminally speaking. In their panicked attempt to escape, they fled up the mountain, which
meant that the only way to actually escape was to um go back down the mountain. Yeah. So, in that case, all
the sheriff's department and now the newly arrived SWAT team had to do was wait them out and eventually they'd get
them. Yeah. They now you're stuck, right? But the only question was, would they take them alive or dead? By the
time the sun had gone down, Mount Baldi was surrounded by hundreds of law enforcement officers from the ri from
Riverside and the surrounding counties as well as federal agents. That must have been crazy. Yeah. In killing Jim
Evans, the gang had upped the ante significantly and it seemed unlikely that they were going to be able to
escape. Oh yeah. It's like now you've killed the cop. You killed a cop. Yeah. You shot a cop in the head. Mhm. In the
meantime, officers accompanied tracking dogs up into the mountains, following the trail of blood left by Chris and
George, who were both now bleeding heavily from gunshot wounds. Wow. Throughout the night, occasional bursts
of gunfire could be heard from and around the mountain. But for a few hours at least, the chaos seemed to settle.
The following morning, deputies and SWAT members finally cornered George, Chris,
and Russ in a snow-covered patch of mountains. They were soaking wet, freezing, exhausted, and Chris and
George had lost a lot of blood. By that point, they had become separated from Manny Delgado, who was tracked by um
officers with dogs. But as soon as deputies closed in around him, he took his own life rather than be taken into
custody. Wow. Yeah. In the end, the crime scene was the largest in US history, stretching out more than 50
miles from Norcco into the San uh San Gabriel Mountains and littered with thousands of spent shells, shrapnel, and
other debris from the shootout. Holy [ __ ] In the fight, more than three dozen cars were destroyed. A San
Bernardino uh County helicopter was badly damaged. And countless homes and businesses in and around Norcco showed
evidence of having been hit with fire. Oh, I'm sure. And there was the human cost. In addition to the murder of
Deputy Jim Evans, Billy Delgado had been shot by the police and killed. His brother Manny had taken his own life on
Mount Baldi. Throughout the ordeal, at least eight officers sustained serious injuries and three civilians were
injured. Oh, I I'm surprised it wasn't more. I am too, actually. And as for the money they had stolen, most of it flew
out the window of the truck as they made their getaway. You've got to be [ __ ] So, this was all for nothing. This was
for literally nothing. Yep. In the days that followed, none of the bank robbers were compliant. And it took law
enforcement officials some time before they were even able to identify them because remember, these people have no
past criminal history. Yeah. Like that's what's even scarier. It's insane. They really went for it. In the meantime, the
press descended on Norcco looking for any information on the robbers or any firstirhand counts of the robbery.
Security Pacific employee Tim Murphy told a reporter it was scary. They looked and acted like commandos. They
were professional and they didn't mind shooting. Yeah. Other residents in Norcco were simply stunned that the
robbery had happened at all. One resident said, "Things like this just don't happen." Well, not here anyway.
Cuz it's so massive. Like, what a scale. And like I said, this is a small town. It's like 20,000 people. Yeah. A week
later, all three men were arraigned on 40 separate charges, including willful murder, armed robbery, and killing an
officer during the commission of a robbery. In his statement to the press, assistant district attorney uh Tom
Holland Horse noted the charges included four quote special circumstances that could very likely lead it to becoming a
death penalty case. But despite the crime having occurred across multiple jurisdictions, the federal government
deferred the case to the Riverside County District Attorney for prosecution. The case was delayed
several times in the months that followed, and the three men didn't end up going before a judge until the summer
of 1981, so almost a year passed. Wow. After several months of testimony from witnesses and multiple sheriff's
deputies, the jury deliberated for 16 days before emerging to find them, all three of them, guilty on 45 counts. Holy
[ __ ] Including two counts of murder uh for Billy Delgado and Jim Evans, one of
their own and a police officer and 25 counts of attempted murder. Damn. Yeah. Despite the complexity of the case and
the number of delays, the prosecutor, Jay Hanks, never doubted that they would receive a guilty verdict. He told
reporters, "I would not have been surprised to have seen some charges compromised, but I fully did expect to
see the murder charges stand, but I'm sure it surprised him that they got convicted on almost like every single
count." Yeah. I mean, that's a risk you take. With that many counts, you assume a lot are going to fall off. But the
fact that they were on they got all of them on 45 counts. Holy [ __ ] So the following month, all three were
sentenced to serve the rest of their lives in prison without the possibility of parole. And the world didn't end.
Today, George Smith is serving his sentence at Richard J. Dunovan Correctional Facility in San Diego. And
Chris Harvin is serving his sentence at the California State Prison in Bavil. Russ Harvin, his brother, died from
heart failure in December of 2019. Damn. But I just think it's absolutely insane
that they went to all this I don't even want to say like all this trouble. I don't there's not even a word for it.
All this nonsense, all this chaos, all this nonsense for money to fortify a bunker for the end of the world and the
world is still going. It it really and that's the thing and also that they put themselves in this position where they
were could easily have been killed to survive to survive cuz they didn't want to die. Yep. Like make it make sense.
It's a truly fascinating case. and that they I don't there's not one part of me that believes that that was a simple
reason for this because if it was simply that they would have done what every other bank robbery was doing at the
time. Run in there, get the money, run out and go hide somewhere with your money. I think that's they went so far.
I think they wanted to cause chaos. I think so too. Yeah, I they were looking to scare people, to terrorize people.
Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. because they were scared and terrorized. So they wanted to spread that. Yeah, I think so.
And I think they wanted some kind of notoriety for sure. Yeah. Which the case has notoriety. They don't they really
don't get even talked about that much. Well, nobody knows their names. Nobody knows their names.
And remember, you know, Jim Evans, you remember that name? Absolutely you do. But yeah, [ __ ] those guys. [ __ ] them.
[ __ ] those guys. [ __ ] them. But damn, what a what a ride. Truly, from start to
finish, it just that case takes off and you're just like, you're like, I'm sorry, what? Hello. But it's tragic that
an officer lost his life. And many others had to spend weeks and weeks healing from like insane injuries.
People were hit with grenades. That's funny. And shrapnel and all kinds of [ __ ] And people had to repair their
homes, their businesses, their cars. Like imagine that. Like imagine like a stray bullet comes through your door
like and forget like all the time spent healing and the you know all of that just the trauma. Oh yeah. Even for
somebody that that wasn't hit but that just witnessed that. Exactly. You would be so fearful to leave your house ever
again. Yeah. Can't imagine. Can't imagine. No. But damn. With all that being said, we hope you keep listening
and we hope you keep it weird. But not as weird as that. If you think the end of the world is coming, you um
you page Buffy. Exactly. And you know, if the world is ending, there's nothing we can do to stop it. That's the thing.
Just ride it out, man. Just five until then. It's fine. Yeah, we're good. It's all good. Love you, baby. Love you. Be
more. [Music] [Music]

On the afternoon of May 9, 1980, four heavily armed men walked into the Security Pacific Bank in Norco, California and demanded $20,000 in cash. Having seen the men enter the bank with their guns, employees of a different bank across the street called the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department and deputies responded immediately.

When the bank robbers were confronted in the parking lot by law enforcement, a shootout began that would ultimately span more than forty miles across two counties, and when it was finally over, one sheriff’s deputy and two of the perpetrators were dead, eleven others were wounded. Moreover, the assault caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage from the nearly 2000 rounds that were fired, hitting houses, buildings, cars, among other things.

Thank you to the Incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research and Writing support!

References

Bennett, Lorraine. 1980. "Suspects in Norco holdup charged with 120 felonies." Los Angeles Times, May 15: 3.

Gorman, Tom. 1982. "Kidnapping victim tells of ordeal at bandits' hands." Los Angeles Times, January 15: 22.

Houlahan, Peter. 2020. "Norco '80: Before the bank robbery." Los Angeles Daily News, June 2.

—. 2019. "40 years later, the aftermath of a deadly bank robbery still lingers in a small SoCal city." Los Angeles Magazine, May 28.

—. 2020. Norco '80: The True Story of the Most Spectacular Bank Robbery in American History. Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint.

Malnic, Eric, and Mike Goodman. 1980. "Suspect put up barbed wire at home." Los Angeles Times, May 11: 1.

Schaub, Michael. 2019. "Apocalyptic robbers botched a SoCal bank heist." Los Angeles Times, June 7.

Stein, Mark. 1980. "Shaken witnesses: 'There was fear...'." Los Angeles Times, May 11: 3.

Sun News Service. 1982. "Trio guilty in Norco holdup, deputy's murder." San Bernardino County Sun, July 24: 1.

Stay in the know - wondery.fm/morbid-wondery.

Connect with Wondery http://wondery.com/shows http://facebook.com/WonderyMedia http://twitter.com/WonderyMedia http://instagram.com/WonderyMedia

Brief Summary

Elina and Ash discuss the Norco shootout, detailing the chaotic bank robbery and its tragic consequences.

Key points

A Fall at the Celtics Game. Ash shares a hilarious and mortifying story about falling at the Celtics game.
Apocalyptic Beliefs. Exploring the motivations behind the Norco shootout, rooted in apocalyptic beliefs.
The Norco Shootout. Elina and Ash dive into the shocking details of the Norco shootout and its perpetrators.
The High Fence. George and Chris built a high fence with razor wire and carpet tacks to keep people out.
Descent into Delusion. George's job loss and family issues pushed him into dangerous fantasies.
The Robbery Plan. George announced plans to rob a Denny's to fund their bunker project.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

It's an ignorance boat.

Elina and Ash bond over their lack of knowledge about the Norco shootout.

7:33WatchMay 22, 2025

Tension

85/ 100High tension

More from Morbid | Podcast

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.