Witness Tells of 3rd Gunman in Bank Holdup

In a surprise twist, a lawyer representing an LAPD officer attempted to introduce in federal court Thursday the possibility of a mysterious third gunman in the bloody North Hollywood bank holdup three years ago, who evaded a police dragnet and has never been caught.

Bradley C. Gage, a lawyer for Officer John Futrell, questioned a woman who said she saw a heavily armed man running from the vicinity of the shootout and into a shed under her apartment window.

“There were three [gunmen] in the bank” holdup, Gage said in an interview outside a federal civil rights trial in which Futrell and other police and paramedics are accused of letting one of the bank robbers, Emil Matasareanu, bleed to death in the aftermath of the shootout.

The Los Angeles Police Department had no comment on Evon Haddad’s testimony, or Gage’s assertion that there was a third gunman involved in one of the bloodiest police gun battles in Los Angeles history.

But the LAPD has always said that only two men raided the Bank of America branch Feb. 28, 1997, and then engaged police in a brutal 40-minute firefight on live TV.

One of those men, Larry Eugene Phillips Jr., shot and killed himself as police closed in. The other, Matasareanu, bled to death on a nearby street after suffering more than two dozen gunshot wounds. His death prompted the civil rights lawsuit by his heirs.

The heirs allege that police and paramedics could have saved Matasareanu’s life by providing him with timely medical attention. A Times investigation also found, in 1998, that Matasareanu bled to death because of mistakes by Futrell and other police officers and violations of departmental policy by firefighters.

Gage, however, used the testimony of Haddad and other witnesses Thursday to show that police kept firefighters away from Matasareanu because of the very real possibility that an armed gunman was on the loose.

“The reason they didn’t go in [to rescue Matasareanu] was due to a number of reports of suspects in the area, including Ms. Haddad’s,” said Gage.

Gage said he wanted to introduce other evidence to back up his assertion, but said he was barred by Judge Christina A. Snyder.

In her brief testimony, Haddad said she was awakened that morning by a barrage of gunfire and that she heard another short burst of gunfire a half-hour later and called 911.

“I looked out my window and there was a man running,” Haddad testified. “He hopped over the fence and ran into the shed with a machine gun.”

Haddad said the gunman was dressed in a black vest and boots--similar to the body armor worn by Matasareanu and Phillips.

Deputy City Atty. Donald Vincent confirmed in an interview Thursday that the LAPD sent police dogs into the shed and that the dogs discovered evidence of someone in the shed. The police demolished the shed, but no suspect was ever found.

Vincent would not comment on whether he believed there was a third gunman. “The only thing I can say is that that’s what [Haddad] saw,” Vincent said. “She sounded like a very credible witness to me.”

Lawyers for Matasareanu’s family said they also believe there were more than two gunmen involved in the bank holdup and shootout, despite an intensive LAPD investigation that concluded Phillips and Matasareanu acted alone.

“Evon Haddad’s testimony finally debunks the LAPD falsities that only two men robbed the bank,” lawyer Stephen Yagman said in a written statement.

But Yagman and lawyer Victor Sherman also said that Haddad’s testimony had no bearing on the civil rights case. Her sighting of an alleged third bank robber occurred several blocks from where Matasareanu lay bleeding, they said, and should not have prevented paramedics from getting close enough to him to take him to a hospital.

The FBI, which also investigated the bank robbery, had no comment because of the ongoing litigation, said spokeswoman Laura Bosley.

The LAPD cited the same litigation as its reason for not commenting on Gage’s allegations.

“It would be inappropriate for the department to make a comment about a case that is in ongoing litigation,” said spokeswoman Lt. Sharyn Buck.