num_pages: 400
description: A true crime account of one of the most violent bank heists in US history. Norco 80 tells the story of how five heavily-armed young menled by an apocalyptic born-again Christianattempted a bank robbery that turned into one of the most violent criminal events in U.S. history forever changing the face of American law enforcement. Part action thriller and part courtroom drama Norco 80 transports the reader back to the Southern California of the 1970s an era of predatory evangelical gurus doomsday predictions megachurches and soaring crime rates with the threat of nuclear obliteration looming over it all. A group of landscapers transforms into a murderous gang of bank robbers armed to the teeth with military-grade weapons. Their desperate getaway turned the surrounding towns into war zones. When it was over three were dead and close to twenty wounded; a police helicopter was forced down from the sky and thirty-two police vehicles were destroyed by thousands of rounds of ammo. The resulting trials shook the community to the core raising many issues that continue to plague society today: from racism and the epidemic of post-traumatic stress disorder within law enforcement to religious extremism and the militarization of local police forces.
language: English
title: Norco '80: The True Story of the Most Spectacular Bank Robbery in American History
publisher: Counterpoint Press