Under Fire | FULL EPISODE | The FBI Files

in our north of New York City a band of deadly gunner descended on a peaceful suburban community they struck quickly and savagely agents learned that the gangs leader had been living underground for more than two decades the FBI's New York handy terrorist task force hoped they could find this most-wanted fugitive before he killed them [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] a series of armored car heists and bloody shootouts shocked law enforcement the brutal violence of the crimes suggested a motive more complex than greed when the robbers started targeting police the FBI took charge I'm Jim Kallstrom former head of the FBI's New York office agents would expend thousands of man-hours to stop an armed gang that terrorized New York [Music] Rockland County New York 1981 the burgeoning suburb just 20 miles north of New York City had become a refuge of former city dwellers most left their urban homes in pursuit of safer more affordable neighborhoods for their families they enjoyed more open space and lower crime rates the town of Nanuet was typical and drew many people to its new mall at 3:40 October 20th 1981 a Brinks armored truck made its regularly scheduled pickup from a retailer one guard remained in the truck while another watch the doors [Music] the third returned with cash and receipts [Music] with no warning a gang of masked men burst out of a red bag one guard was hit in the throat another was hit in the arm Gundam truck is on the driver we shot back but the assailants gunfire was going away one guard managed to climb into the back of the truck for protection police chief Alan Coulson of the South Nyack Grandview Police tonight was five miles away when he received the call officers from other nearby towns were also called since Nanuet was too small to support its own police force in October of 1981 when the Brinks case occurred it was an extremely shocking event for the entire area of Rockland County for the naya community for the Clark Stan community this was something that they had never expected to ever see Clarkstown police and paramedics arrived first replaced one guard on life-support hoping you would survive the right to the hospital Brinks guard Peter page would never get that chance a gunshot had severed major arteries in his right shoulder and meant he died before help arrived the uninjured driver said go the gunmen have more masks he believed they were black males they sped off in a red van on a deposit bomb police learned that 1.6 million dollars was missing 1.3 million remained in the trunk [Music] chief Cosi received updates as he raced to the crime scene the first information coming in from the Nanuet scene was that the suspects had been seen escaping in a red van they were eastbound on route 59 this would take them along a route adjacent to the New York State Thruway which leads directly into New York City over the Tappan Zee Bridge moments later a local resident close to the mall reported seeing masked gunmen in a parking transferring Saxon weapons into a small moving truck the witness told Clarkstown police that the vehicles exited detective Arthur Keenan and two other police cruisers were on route 59 close to the Thruway entrance when they received the update we proceeded onto route 59 near the New York State Thruway to see if we would see the getaway vehicle we went to that area figuring that would be a getaway route when the officers arrived at the intersection of Mountain View Road and interstate 87 they noticed a moving truck waiting to turn left onto the through Keenen ordered one patrol unit to block the on-ramp then detective Keenan received a call about a second moving truck that time there was a radio transmission from the orange town police that they had a you-all truck heading southbound on route 304 near the New Jersey line which was approximately the same distance from the Nanuet mall as we were unsure if the truck on route 59 was the suspects Sergeant Edward O'Grady and detective Keenan blocked the truck officers Brian Lennon and Waverly chip brown approached the drivers [Music] the suspects were described as being black males at the intersection we observed the driver and passenger as being white individuals yeah the woman objected to the shotgun [Music] sergeant O'Grady directed Lennon to return the gun to the patrol car they believed they had stopped the wrong truck no one secured the gun the detective inspected the back of the moving truck though it didn't appear locked the back door wouldn't open he told the couple that he wanted to see what was inside I couldn't understand why I wouldn't open I wanted to know what was in the back of the truck and instantly as I was set down a noise came from the truck I turned the suspects were coming out of the back shoot him from the officers six-shot revolvers bounced off the officer Lennon rushed back to his patrol car for his shotgun officer Brown was shot in the neck and shoulder and fell to the ground even if the officers were wearing them we were at a disadvantage in addition to which the ammunition it was being used in the m16 was capable of going through the vests as the masked gunman approached one executed officer Brown at point-blank range detective Keenan was hit in the leg and Randall I was still being fired out of even after I took cover I had shots go between my legs treated I was behind took a shot chest high officer Lennon had unlocked his shotgun but was taking heavy fire [Applause] the gunman rammed the police trying to clear it through her escape it didn't work then two cars arrived at the scene the suspects gathered the money bags and piled into the cars [Music] one suspect never made it to her getaway car passing motorist grab the woman who had been a passenger in the truck and prevented her escape watch the white Oldsmobile intend on speed away officers Keenan and Lennon rushed to help their injured colleagues as the suspects made their getaway I went to both the Waverly brand and video Grady to see if there was anything I could do for them Waverly Brown and Eddie were both beyond any medical attention that I could administer still enroute chief Alan Coulson's main focus was to find the fleeing vehicles but reports were scattered and hard to decipher it was very very difficult at this particular time to get a clear open communication from anyone out in the field back to a desk area because of the number of communications that were literally stepping on one another as the chief approached the area he determined that the crime scene didn't need any male personnel we set out to find those responsible I didn't want to interfere with the emergency response in that area the road was completely blocked so knowing that this particular escape route would lead them in a particular direction I made a u-turn at Mountain View 159 and trace my steps back he figured the suspects would travel towards New York City where there was potential for a greater loss of life he believed their route would take them along Mountain View Avenue to a t-intersection I figured there was a 50/50 shot that they were either going to go east or west and that I could cover at least one of those avenues of escape and and went immediately to that area as quickly as I could in fact in route to that particular intersection I observed the suspect vehicles two of them at a high rate of speed heading east on Christian Herald Road the chief followed the cars he radioed in his position and asked for backup it was clear to me based upon the events that had transpired up until that point that these were extremely dangerous individuals who had no compulsion or no regard for human life and no hesitancy to take the utmost of violent actions against anybody who would stand in their way until you try it would be up to him to stop two vehicles that held six heavily armed cop killers after following for a few minutes the chief noticed the two passengers in the Honda had ducked out of sight perhaps to load guns as we get to the corner of 6th and Broadway the Oldsmobile makes a right-hand turn onto Broadway going south into the middle of town and the tan Honda attempts to do the same but slide skids across the road the chief positioned his car between himself and the fugitives he drew his gun and continued to call for backup clicking his voice could be heard over the clamor of psychic sport I've continually you order the suspects out of the vehicle there's a period of a few seconds where nothing in fact happened and then the door opens up and I see with female put her feet out onto the roadway and remain seated in the front seat of the car the chief repeated his committees words of the vehicle with their hands in the air the woman then began to reach behind the seat perhaps for a gun then a second occupant walked towards the officer wearing a bulletproof vest despite my repeated orders to the contrary one of the suspects of him walking up towards me the female was attempting to reach around and get something which I immediately assumed to be a weapon the chief was outnumbered and neither of the suspects obeyed his orders he made one more desperate call for backup on October 20th 1981 vinayak New York police chief had stopped one of two getaway cars filled with suspects from an armored car robbery that had left three dead and two [Music] as he continued to call for backup one suspect reached behind her seat another approach to chief wearing a bulletproof vest [Music] he was outnumbered and neither of the suspects obeyed his orders as the chief made one last desperate radio they secured the scene and pulled a third suspect from the backseat police believed that he'd been an armed lookout for the other two but was injured and dropped his weapon when their getaway car careened out of control police searched the car in the chunk they recovered sax that held in excess of 1 million dollars under the front seat they found a loaded 9-millimeter pistol the weapon the woman had likely been reaching for thousands attended the funeral for the officers slain at the October 20th shootout the entire community shared the grief felt by detective Arthur Keenan of the loss of his colleagues the death of my two friends chipper brown and video Grady definitely affected my life from that point forward when you're in a small community like that in a small Police Department like that you you go to each other's weddings and christenings and barbecues and things that I nature and it becomes a like a secondary thing family of sorts and so was it very devastating to lose two of two of you good friends the four murder suspects including the woman captured at the roadblock maintained their silence while arraigned at NIACC village hall police had no way to know how many more were still at large the law enforcement community in Rockland County was taken greatly by surprise by the sequence and magnitude of the events this was really a small assault team that that came to Rockland County to rob this this Brinks truck and it was it was a magnitude and a seriousness and a firepower that had never been seen anywhere in the law enforcement community here if Nyack police were not used to such violence thirty miles south in New York City the FBI and New York City Police certainly were the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force had already been investigating a series of armored car heists throughout the region that had been executed in a similar fashion [Music] now retired Special Agent Luisi was a member of that team he believed the Nayak robbery was connected to the others the people who had done Nayak had to have some involvement with all these other crimes I mean because the mo was absolutely identical the weights were driving the vehicles the blacks had done the robberies the the weapons that were used or identical to the weapons that have been used in the other in the other robberies we were looking at so there was no doubt in anybody's mind that this was the at least some of the same group the suspects were processed at the Rockland County Jail when asked for their names all gave aliases except one Judy Clark arrested in the getaway car was no stranger to the FBI to agents she was known as a member of the Weather Underground a radical group involved in many violent robberies and bombings in the 1960s and 70s for the Brinks robbery she would be sentenced to 75 years in prison special agent Liu VC was an expert on The Weather Underground one female I recognized immediately is Judy Clark who had been someone who had been under investigation previously by us as a possible terrorist there was another female there who I who I thought looked very familiar agent visa suspected the woman arrested at the roadblock was Kathy boudin another member of The Weather Underground a fingerprint check confirmed it who Dean pled guilty and was sentenced to 20 years in prison for acting as a decoy passenger in the moving truck they discovered one of the men to be David Gilbert who Dean's common-law husband who was also a member of The Weather Underground he received 75 years for his role Sam Brown who had been injured in the getaway car was an associate of the Black Liberation Army another militant group like Gilbert and Clark Brown was sentenced to 75 years in prison four members of the gang were behind bars from survivor's statements agents estimated at least seven more were out on the streets Special Agent Ken Maxwell joined the investigation to help determine who and where the remaining huge ative x' might be one new lead held promise the second getaway car had been found a few miles away the Oldsmobile was found in Westchester County dumped or abandoned inside there was a great deal of blood indicating that whoever had abandoned the vehicle had been wounded during the shootout agents checked local hospitals for gunshot residue they found no patients whose whereabouts would one account right now on the day of the shootout the Oldsmobile is registered to a woman at an apartment on Prospect Street in East Orange New Jersey they suspected that the armed fugitives had taken refuge their agents obtained a search warrant [Music] they found no one inside began to process the apartment the location in East ours New Jersey was a treasure trove of evidence so what we commonly refer to as a safehouse inside that safe house the New Jersey State Police and the FBI located a tremendous amount of documentary evidence indicating other safe houses other vehicles used by these subjects and also photographs and other forms of identification that began to unravel the mystery as to who was involved one key name investigators discovered on rent receipts was the legal name of the tenant Marilyn Jean buck the FBI knew her name in history she was a known operative of the Black Liberation Army and its only white member well Marilyn buck had a long history of her involvement with radical politics if you will at the time of the robbery she was a fugitive who had gone underground was wanted on weapons charges agents also found a bomb-making manual diagrams of six police precincts and a hit list naming civic and business leaders they turned up more false IDs disguises shot two 9-millimeter pistols and ammunition a ledger with detailed notes made in Maryland bucks handwriting revealed the group's illicit activities it listed dates and expenditures for rental cars guns ammunition and illegal drugs as investigators sifted through the evidence they began to encounter a problem that would plagued them throughout this complex case according to agent Louisa I think the real difficulty is just the sheer bulk of information and evidence numerous pieces of evidence from numerous crime scenes individuals who constantly used aliases false identification had safe houses he had to figure out who was who was that person identical to a person with a different name but a same physical description in another safe house it was a gigantic jigsaw puzzle and sometimes you didn't think you had all the pieces agents still didn't know who was involved where they were and why they did it we're out to get answers the FBI needed to develop a cooperating witness they turned to Sam Brown in Otisville prison the gunman arrested after the car chase he was a low-level associate of the Black Liberation Army Brown cooperated in the hopes that his sentence would be lightened Sam Brown was the only one who decided to talk to the investigators he really got us started he's the one that named a few names and with those few names that's where the investigation began widening out to the rest of them so he was very important the most valuable name Brown provided was that of the mastermind behind the armed robbery Mutulu Shakur Shakur was a known militant the leader of the Black Liberation Army and one of the highest-ranking members of the gang who called themselves the family the family was a group of about a dozen terrorists comprised primarily of members of The Weather Underground and Black Liberation Army their formal association was news to agent Maxwell we had known from prior investigations in the past that these groups had communicated that they had some common goals and objectives but never before had that communication or association evolved into this type of criminal activity Brown told agents that the family met on many occasions to plan the Nayak robbery a tool of Shakur assigned jobs to each member of the group you know what to do Edward Joseph and Donald Weems were assigned as gunmen in the armored car assault the FBI knew Weems was a member of the Black Panthers and the Black Liberation Army he had escaped from prison in 1978 investigators knew little about Joseph another man named Chuy Ferguson would handle the m16 assault rifle Samuel Lee Smith would be armed with a shotgun Brown didn't know the names of the others but provided agents with physical descriptions agents put out APB's for the five names given which included Samuel Lee Smith in Queens homicide detectives were on their way to Smith's last-known address a license plate registered to him had been found in a safe house as one detective drove down Smith Street he passed a driver who fit the suspects description the detective called for a marked unit to study and the man saw the lights he took off [Music] [Applause] police follow them into a net [Applause] many member of the family had opened fire on uniformed officers Samuel Lee Smith the fugitives wanted for his role in the shooting deaths of two police officers in an armored car guard and opened fire on the New York City police whose attack did not last long he was killed by the officers returning fire Smith was the fifth member of a terrorist group called the family to have been taken off the streets seven others remained at large with almost a million dollars in stolen cash still missing on a tip from Sam Brown a gang member already in custody police canvassed a Bronx neighborhood for another suspect named Donald reams special agent Ken Maxwell recalls that Brown knew very little about Brown had given us a general description of a neighborhood in the Bronx where he had met this individual who fit the description of Weems My partner and I after a process of elimination and a lot of legwork pinpoint in a building that possibly could be the place Brown was talking about effectives canvassed the neighborhood hoping someone with no reams and revealed his address they got lucky the neighbor directed police to his apartment he told them we miss upstairs right now detectives called for backup since every other encounter with his terrorists had resulted in gunfire they prepared for the worst in a short time they entered the building with a warrant and a SWAT team they had no idea if memes was alone or if he was on there were some anxious moments in terms of waiting but then he ultimately came out and surrendered in the hallway in his apartment however we found several firearms a gas mask a bulletproof vest and enough ammunition to do battle with a small army Weems was the only member of the family inside he was tried on federal charges and found guilty of robbery and second-degree murder he was sentenced to 75 years in prison those six members of the family were now in custody group leader mutulu shakur remained on the streets once again cooperating informant Sam Brown provided agents with a lead he believed mutulu shakur could most likely be found in Harlem at the acupuncture clinic Shakur had founded the FBI and NYPD set up 24-hour surveillance on we utilized agents and detectives of diverse ethnic backgrounds to do our best to blend in to suit certain neighborhoods we knew from both experience and also recognizing the intelligence and versatility of this group that we had to be particularly discreet in surveilling these individuals agents watched and listened for months though Shakur never showed they noted several others and came and went quite often agents hoped they would eventually leave her to school one night agents followed a man from the clinic to a house at 85 bound Street in Greenwich they learned the house is rented to Edward Joseph one of the suspects named by informants Ambra horn died at robbery and shootout they suspected Shakur was hiding there they were right there months of perseverance had paid off a federal judge authorized a title three his permitted agents could set up wiretaps in buck Shakur and Joseph must have suspected the FBI's presence since they often turned up the TV when they talked despite this a drinks were able to pick up snippets of incriminating conversations including a discussion of killing informants Sam Brown after several weeks agents had enough evidence for a warrant to raid the Greenwich Village hideout on the night of March 25th 1982 six months since the murders and robbery night agents prepared for the assault they'd strike early the next morning hoping to catch the fugitives asleep and unaware as the agents watched and waited they saw Shakur entered the house at dawn two SWAT teams arrived one team headed through the front door the other covered the fire escape and back [Music] they arrested two men Chuy Ferguson and Edward Joseph both named his participants in the night [Music] they're leading mutulu shakur was nowhere to be found somehow he'd escaped during the night slipping past the surveillance Furguson and Joseph were convicted on federal charges as accessories for harboring a fugitive when they were acquitted of murder charges stemming from the Nayak shootings both were sentenced to 12 years in prison on July 23rd 1982 almost a year after two officers and a guard had been killed in the Brinks robbery mutulu shakur was placed on the FBI's ten most wanted list finding the leader of the gang responsible for three cold-blooded murders would now become a priority for every FBI office across the country honest a year after Brinks robbery and shootout with police FBI agents around the country will continue to pursue the mastermind behind the million dollar heist mutulu shakur a leader of the terrorist group called the family had been placed on the FBI's ten most wanted fugitives list Shakur and at least three others remained at large in the summer of 1982 an agent from New York City traveled to Georgia to interview a member of the family who had been arrested for a separate bank robbery Tyrone Reisen offered his cooperation in the hopes of a lighter sentence by the state of Georgia though he claimed that he was not present when the armored car was robbed in Nyack New York he confessed to having helped plan the job that left a Brinks guard and two police officers dead [Music] Rison provided crucial information about other members of the family ricin was not only a member of the family he was a very important member of the family and had been involved in all the robberies he knew who was in the family he knew the names and he knew how the family operated so he was able to describe the mo the robberies they did the weapons they used who did what Rison told the agent how members of the group were able to secure so many aliases the prisoner explained that a manager of a children's clothing store in Manhattan was key to obtaining false IDs the manager gathered license information each time a customer paid by check since New York State did not require a photo license in the early 80s an imposter would take the information to the Motor Vehicles Department claiming she'd lost her license then the DMV would issue a duplicate immediately Rison also described a special agent Maxwell the group's motives they termed these robberies expropriations almost acts of war and as one of their members eloquently well not so eloquently commented one time in war people get hurt so when if you can understand that philosophy you can understand the the mindset of the motivation behind the gang rise ins information help agents understand more about the inner workings of the group but by the fall of 1984 three years after the Brinks heist and triple murder three fugitives still eluded the FBI including gang leader mutulu shakur Marilyn buck and Susan Rosenberg despite this time was on the side of the FBI the longer the fugitives ran the more likely it was they'd make a mistake on November 29th 1984 local police received a call from a manager at a storage facility in Cherry Hill New Jersey he reported a customer on the premises who had been paying her bill with a credit card that was determined to be stolen officers arrived to find the woman about to leave inside the back of the van they noticed containers that appeared to hold explosives police asked her for ID when she reached for her purse under the driver's seat the cautious officers stopped her they wanted her hands to stay in plain sight inside her purse they found a weapon they placed her under arrest when she was processed police learned that she was Susan Rosenberg a member of the family wanted in connection with the Brinks robbery and shootout investigators secured a search warrant for the van inside the crates they found six hundred and forty pounds of explosives than 14 weapons the van was registered in New York State to a woman named Louise Harmon agents discovered the name and her address had been falsified as forensic technicians processed Rosenberg's vehicle they noticed a sticker on the door from a repair shop in Connecticut agents located the New Haven repair shop where the vehicle had been serviced they hope the owner would remember the persons who had brought the van in they showed the owner several photographs of women who were known associates of the family the woman he identified was Marilyn Jean buck one of two remaining fugitives in the Brinks robbery and shooting while buck had not used her real name on the vehicles paperwork she listed an address in Dobbs Ferry New York on the repair bill agents followed up on the lead [Applause] they determined that buck was in Dobbs Ferry and set up surveillance but she eluded them for months then on May 11th 1985 they finally cornered her outside a diner and arrested her buck denied knowing mutulu shakur or having any connection to that Brinks robbery and shootout four years before but a federal trial would prove differently buck was sentenced to 50 years in prison without the possibility of parole she was extremely important in the planning of the robberies and in a procurement of the weapons as it turns out a lot of the weapons that the family had she obtained in gun shows in Texas buying among their phony names now only one known suspect in the Nayak robbery and shootout remained terrorist leader mutulu shakur agent searched a Baltimore apartment rented by buck hoping for a lid - secures whereupon they discovered paraphernalia for making false identity papers wigs likely used in disguises plans to bomb federal offices and $10,000 in cash [Music] searchers also found guns and ammunition stashed in various locations throughout the apartment then scrawled on a piece of paper agents came across what they had been hoping for evidence of Mutulu Shakur's whereabouts it listed a phone number in Los Angeles special agent David Mitchell spearheaded the search for Shakur he contacted the FBI Los Angeles field office to have agents follow up the lead special agent Dana Ingalls in the Los Angeles office advised me that he had interviewed an individual that had established that Shakur had in fact been residing in Los Angeles the core had eluded authorities in a nationwide manhunt for over five years agents hope that this time they could corner him and bring down the leader of the terrorist gang responsible for killing one armored car guard and two police officers the FBI and NYPD we're closing in on mutulu shakur the elusive criminal believed to have masterminded a deadly Brinks robbery and shootout special agent David Mitchell at track Shakur to LA where the terrorist leader remained one step ahead there were a number of challenges Shakur was working with a group of individuals that were closely aligned to each other they had a support network the investigators all assigned to this investigation we're having a difficult time getting individuals to cooperate after many weeks investigators were finally able to convince an informant to tell what he knew about the fugitives whereabouts he said he didn't know where Shakur was hiding but he identified a man by the name of Chapman known to be close to Shakur for about six weeks agents conducted ground and air surveillance on Chapman and other Shakur associates but Shakur continued to elude authorities Shakur was leading a very low-profile life in Los Angeles at least as far as our investigation could determine he did not frequent any locations or areas where he could be identified and we virtually knew very little about his activity at that time as the surveillance continued Mitchell and the other investigators tried to find a pattern to the moves Shakur's associates made to hide him around the city they poured over apartment rental records and other documents but learned little then on February 11th 1986 their confidential informant called he told them that Chapman would meet with Shakur that night after Chapman left a Lakers basketball game investigators located his car and waited for him to leave the farm [Music] Chapman attempted what agents called dry-cleaning counter-surveillance tactics designed to lose a tape he wove through the streets turning changing direction [Music] police stayed with him not knowing if Chapman had seen when Chapman reached his destination Mitchell's team pulled in nearby Chapman approached a man they believed was Shakur [Music] two officers headed to where the men were talking careful not to attract attention which of course saw them he took off on foot [Music] they caught up with one the arrests of this violent revolutionary closed a five year nationwide men when Shakur was arrested it was apparent to those officers and agents involved in the arrest that he was tired and it was late in the evening he was transported to the Los Angeles FBI office where agent Ingalls and I attempted to interview him Shakur declined to furnish any statement to us during this interview and was subsequently removed back to New York City to face the charges in the spring of 1986 Shakur was tried on federal charges related to the Brinks robbery and shootout he was sentenced to 60 years in prison without the possibility of parole the police officers who survived that terrifying day in Nyack New York were relieved that Shakur had been brought to justice but for South Nyack police chief Alan Cole see the memory of their loss would always be with them video greedy and an officer brown chip brown as we call them were local Nanak community members they'd gone through the Nanak School District they had been on the job before I was and in fact more or less had sort of brought me and broken me into into the community they were very very close to the community and to a lot of us that were were police officers here they were they were excellent people there were excellent cops and we missed them dearly to this day to commemorate the slain officers a monument was erected in Nyack New York the surviving colleagues have found some comfort in knowing that the lessons learned from the Nayak shootout have made life safer for citizens as well as for the officers on the street today let it not be said that they died in vain but rather that their ultimate sacrifice led to the identification of a national problem I think their ultimate sacrifice and and their the tragic deaths of everyone involved certainly uncovered a nationwide network of domestic terrorists heretofore unknown and in essence prevented the loss of life [Music] [Applause] you [Music]

Channel: The FBI Files

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Keywords: FBI, FBI Files, FBI Documentary, Documentary, Crime, Crime Documentary, Crime Patrol, True Crime, True crime daily, Unsolved, Crime Stories, Crime Documentaries Full Episodes, Full Episode, unsolved true crime, fbi files full episodes, we got him, mystery, solved, investigation, police, criminal, prison, jail, robbery, bank robbery, heist, brinks robbery, under fire FBI

Id: b1WRSeNSlsk

Length: 49min 53sec (2993 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 11 2020