BURGLARY, ABDUCTION TRIAL STARTS : OFFICER'S SONS AMONG STATE CASE DEFENDANTS.Byline: Jeannette DeSantis Daily News Staff Writer The state trial began Wednesday in the burglary and kidnapping kidnapping, in law, the taking away of a person by force, threat, or deceit, with intent to cause him to be detained against his will. Kidnapping may be done for ransom or for political or other purposes. case against two sons of an LAPD 1. LAPD - Link Access Procedure on the D channel. 2. LAPD - Los Angeles Police Department. sergeant and their childhood friend who are charged with robbing two banks in 1993 and holding two bank workers and their families hostage. On trial are Chad and Brett Pelch, 25 and 28, the sons of LAPD Sgt. Dennis Pelch, and their former Saugus High School Saugus High School may refer to:
Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. Bank robbery is the crime of robbing a bank. . Authorities say the three and two other friends were involved in a sophisticated bank robbery ring that netted $200,000 in heists at Trans World Trans World is an economic simulation game for the Commodore 64 published by Starbyte Software in 1990. The player takes control of a new trucking company and competes against up to either three other human or computer players to make the most money. Bank in Canyon Country and Coast Federal Bank in Northridge. In each robbery, prosecutors charged in opening arguments Wednesday, the robbers violently took a female bank officer and her family hostage, threatened their lives, then forced the bank worker to open the bank vault in the morning. ``They spray-painted the bank cameras, dressed in disguises, used walkie-talkies and police scanners,'' prosecutor Susan Chasworth told the jury. ``They were even sophisticated enough to bring a change of clothes so they could change out of the black suits and white shirts they used to rob the bank.'' She described the defendants as clever yet greedy thieves who cheated their own accomplices and went on wild spending sprees with their loot. Chasworth described Yepes as ``the mastermind,'' who called the shots during the robberies, while Brett Pelch acted as ``the enforcer,'' the one who intimidated the bank employee's family and kept them in fear for their lives. Chad Pelch, who is charged in connection only with the Trans World Bank job, was considered by his partners as ``kind of stupid and unreliable,'' something that kept him from being invited to commit the second robbery, Chasworth said. ``Alex Yepes and Brett Pelch got the biggest share of the money, but then they got even greedier and lied to their crime partners about all the money they stole,'' Chasworth said. This is the second trial for Chad Pelch and Yepes who were tried previously on federal bank robbery charges. Chad Pelch was convicted, but Yepes was acquitted on the federal charges. Yepes claims he was targeted by his co-defendants after he refused their requests to join in the crime spree. His lawyers in the federal case presented evidence that he was at a rock concert with a friend during one robbery and showed ticket receipts, cellular phone records, and auto club records from a flat tire he got on the way home. Chasworth contended in her opening statement that those same phone records will show that although Yepes did attend the concert, he still planned and was in touch with his accomplices for most of the robbery. Brett Pelch was never charged in federal court for the bank robberies and was a fugitive for nearly two years. Dennis Pelch was accused of attempting to thwart efforts to capture his son and was suspended for 30 days for refusing to cooperate with FBI agents and lying to Internal Affairs Internal affairs may refer to:
Two other Saugus High friends of the trio also have been implicated im·pli·cate tr.v. im·pli·cat·ed, im·pli·cat·ing, im·pli·cates 1. To involve or connect intimately or incriminatingly: evidence that implicates others in the plot. 2. in the bank robberies. Donald Sallee is still at large and being sought by authorities. The fifth man, Darrin Towers, pleaded guilty to the state charges and is serving a 15-year sentence. He was granted immunity from any further prosecution for his testimony against his former friends and has been cooperating with the FBI. On Wednesday, both defense attorneys for the Pelch brothers described the key prosecution witness as ``a liar'' who twice recanted his statements about the guilt of the Pelch brothers and Yepes. ``Darrin Towers did only one thing - look out for himself,'' Rose Reglos, the public defender public defender, governmental official who represents indigent persons accused of crime. U.S. Supreme Court decisions expanding the right to counsel to pretrial proceedings and holding that a person cannot be sentenced to even one day in jail unless a lawyer was representing Chad Pelch, told the jury. ``He is trying to get something out of it (by testifying) and is going to tell so many different stories that you are not going to be able to keep them straight.'' Reglos said Chad Pelch was never involved in either of the bank robberies or hostage taking and only coincidentally co·in·ci·den·tal adj. 1. Occurring as or resulting from coincidence. 2. Happening or existing at the same time. co·in made a significant purchase in the period after the robberies. She said Chad Pelch was able to pay cash for a truck he purchased because he had gambled and won big on a recent trip to Las Vegas Las Vegas (läs vā`gəs), city (1990 pop. 258,295), seat of Clark co., S Nev.; inc. 1911. It is the largest city in Nevada and the center of one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States. . In her short opening statement, alternate public defender Linda Wieder, who represents Brett Pelch, also warned jurors of Tower, telling them that he ``will lie when he takes the witness stand.'' ``During this trial I will show that Brett Pelch leaving (town) had virtually nothing to do with his guilt,'' Wieder said. |
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