2 BOMB SUSPECTS RACISTS, POLICE SAY.

Byline: Lee Condon Daily News Staff Writer

Police said Friday two men arrested after 10 phony bombs were planted to scare minority residents and business owners into leaving the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood were part of a local group of white supremacists dubbed the ``Peckerwoods.''

``They are a skinhead type of group. They cause fear in the minority community,'' said Lt. Anthony Alba, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department.

Justin Bertone, a 19-year-old Sunland resident, and Jeffrey Campbell, a 36-year-old Burbank resident, are expected to be arraigned Monday in connection with several fake bomb incidents investigated by the LAPD over the past several months, Alba said.

Although the bombs looked real, even to bomb experts, none were armed with explosives.

The suspects also are believed to have made threatening phone calls to some of the minority-owned businesses where the bombs were found, Alba said.

Of the 10 fake bombs, nine were placed in the San Fernando Valley, including two sites in Studio City, two sites in Northridge, three sites in Sunland and two sites in Tujunga. The 10th phony bomb was found in Hollywood.

The pair were arrested Thursday morning after police served search warrants on their homes. Alba said Bertone and Campbell are the only two suspects in the case now, but there could be more arrests as the investigation continues.

Police were assisted in their investigation by the FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Alba said Bertone and Campbell are accused of beginning a reign of terror on minority residents and business owners in the Valley and in Hollywood that lasted for several months.

``It was clear these people targeted minorities in an effort to get people to move from the community,'' Alba said. In some cases, people did move from their apartments after repeated bomb threats were called in to their apartment complexes, Alba said.

At first, police were being dispatched on a regular basis in false 911 bomb calls to various locations. Someone would report a bomb to 911 and police would be sent to investigate.

``In one case, the caller states that the purpose was to cause Hispanics and African-Americans to leave the Sunland-Tujunga area,'' Alba said.

The arrests came the same day that Attorney General Janet Reno called for stepped-up enforcement nationwide against hate crimes. Reno urged Congress to pass legislation expanding the scope of hate crimes that can be prosecuted under federal law. Of the 8,759 bias-motivated attacks reported in 1996, one-fourth were committed in California. Reno wants to expand hate crime laws to include crimes based on disabilities, gender and sexual orientation.