Member of Robbery Ring Convicted

VAN NUYS —  A jury has convicted one member of a notorious crime ring that abducted bank managers and their families as a tactic in bank robberies.

The partial verdict by a Los Angeles County Superior Court jury was against Brett Pelch, 28.

Jurors in Van Nuys continued deliberating dozens of additional charges against Pelch and two alleged accomplices, his brother, Chad Pelch, and high school friend Alex Yepes.

The circumstances surrounding the piecemeal verdicts remained secret. Prosecutors and defense attorneys have been silenced by a gag order imposed by Superior Court Judge Charles Peven midway through the trial.

Jurors deliberated more than a week before finding Pelch guilty of eight counts of burglary, assault with a firearm and false imprisonment for holding the manager of a Northridge bank, her infant twins and their nanny hostage in their Canoga Park home Sept. 16, 1993.

During the trial, Deputy Dist. Atty. Susan Chasworth alleged that the Pelchs, sons of a Los Angeles police sergeant, and three boyhood pals targeted female bank officers, broke into their homes, held their families at gunpoint and forced them to open the bank vaults the next day.

Darren Patrick Towers, 28, is serving a 15-year prison term after admitting his role and agreeing to testify about heists in Northridge and Canyon Country in 1993.

Chasworth said Yepes and Brett Pelch headed the bank-robbery ring. Yepes was the “mastermind,” Brett Pelch the “enforcer.” Younger brother Chad was termed the “weak link,” so “stupid,” prosecutors said, he was asked not to participate in a second robbery in Northridge.

Brett Pelch eluded authorities for 18 months before he was caught near Monterey. His police officer father, Dennis Pelch, was suspended from the force for 33 days for helping his son while he was avoiding arrest. A fifth suspect, Donald Sallee, has not yet been arrested.