At approximately 3:40 p.m. on May 9, 1980, four heavily armed men entered the Security Pacific Bank in Norco, California, fifty miles east of Los Angeles. Among the weapons possessed by the robbers were shotguns, several high-powered handguns, a katana, and an improvised explosive device.

While a fifth robber kept watch outside in a getaway car, his four cohorts stormed into the bank and demanded the tellers to hand over $20,000 in cash. Unbeknownst to them, an employee at the bank across the street saw the perpetrators entering, and called the police.

As Belisario Delgado, the robber stationed outside, saw Riverside County Sheriff Deputy Glyn Bolasky pulling into the bank’s parking lot, he radioed his cohorts that they had been made. As Deputy Bolasky exited his vehicle, the robbers exited the bank.

The stage was set and a shootout commenced with the robbers holding the advantage of vastly superior fire power.

The robbers had made the decision to fight to the death if cornered.

Before Deputy Bolasky could say anything, he was greeted by a hail of gunfire, forcing him to take cover behind his car. As the gunmen jumped into the van the deputy returned fire. The vehicle crashed into a telephone pole guy-wire as one of the shots struck and killed Belisario Delgado, the getaway driver.

As the four remaining gunmen exited the van, they fired over two-hundred rounds at Deputy Bolasky. His car was struck forty-seven times.

Deputy Bolasky’s Bullet-Ridden Car

Deputy Bolasky sustained five gunshot wounds before fellow responding officers arrived on the scene. Deputy Charles Hille was able to rescue the wounded lawman and transport him to the hospital. He survived.

Deputy Glyn Bolasky

The gunmen commandeered a utility repair truck stopped at the intersection in front of the bank. As the foursome fled in that vehicle, they shot at the pursuing officers and threw homemade bombs at them.

The Truck The Robbers Fled In

As the police drew closer to the fleeing gunmen, they were again fired upon. Officers from the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department rushed to the aid of their fellow lawmen.

The Gunmen Ambush The Police . . .

A police helicopter also pursued the gunman and was fired upon.

. . . And The Helicopter

After additional law enforcement arrived at the scene, the gunmen fled into the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains where a standoff with law enforcement stretched into the following day.

On May 10, another shootout occurred as a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department SWAT team moved in on the robbers. Manuel Delgado, brother of Belisario, was killed and two other robbers, Chris Harven and George Smith, were injured.

Harven, his brother Russell, and George Smith, were each convicted of forty-six felonies and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

I could not find a picture of Belisario Delgado.

                                      Manny    Chris     Russell   George  

                                    Delgado  Harven  Harven    Smith

    

Thirty-three police vehicles, including the helicopter, were damaged by the Norco robbers. Eight law enforcement officers and one civilian were injured in the shootout; one officer perished. Thirty-nine-year-old Riverside County Deputy James Evans was part of one of the first units to come under attack during the ambush, and he was shot in the head before he could take cover.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/50067779/james-bernard-evans

Deputy James Evans

Although the Norco robbery occurred over forty years ago, it is still used in training law enforcement personnel in anti-terrorism and survival. In addition, the incident also contributed to the militarization of police forces across the United States due to the robbers’ weapons being greatly superior to those of the responding police officers.

The Weapons Used In the Ambush

San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputy J.D. McCarthy arrived on the scene armed with an M16 rifle. It was his firing of this weapon that caused the gunmen to flee on foot into the woods.  Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputy Rolf Parkes said, “There would have been a lot more dead cops on the road if not for that weapon.”

Following the Norco ambush, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department equipped all of its deputies with M16s and other high-powered guns. In addition to M16s, the San Bernardino Sherriff’s Department armed their deputies with AR-15s and Ruger Mini-14s chambered in .223 Remington’s.

M-16 Guns

A street in Norco was named “Deputy Evans Drive” in honor of the fallen lawman.

https://www.odmp.org/officer/4669-deputy-sheriff-james-b-evans

Honoring The Fallen Lawman

SOURCES:

• Los Angeles Magazine
• Los Angeles Times
• New York Times
• New York Post
• Washington Post