Officer’s Son Guilty on Charges

A Los Angeles police officer’s son, accused of staging two 1993 bank robberies by taking women managers hostage at their homes and then forcing them to open bank vaults the following morning, was convicted Tuesday on multiple robbery, weapons and kidnapping charges.

Brett Pelch, 28, a burly, toupee-wearing former nightclub bouncer described by prosecutors as the “enforcer” in the robberies, exchanged looks with his brother, Chad, as jurors returned the last of a string of guilty verdicts against him.

He will be sentenced on May 29.

The jury, meanwhile, continues to deliberate the guilt or innocence of Chad Pelch, 25, and Alex Yepes, 28, who prosecutors said masterminded the robberies. All three are from the Santa Clarita Valley and attended Saugus High School.

A gag order by San Fernando Superior Court Judge Charles Peven prevented prosecutor Susan Chasworth and defense attorney Linda Weider from commenting.

Jurors already have found Yepes guilty of lying about his identity on an application for a driver’s license--his first felony conviction. In 1994, a Los Angeles jury acquitted Yepes of federal bank robbery charges.

While Yepes fought the charges in U.S. District Court, Brett Pelch was a fugitive for two years. He moved from San Diego to Las Vegas to Northern California before being arrested while driving his BMW near Monterey a month after being featured on the true-crime TV show “America’s Most Wanted.”

He was convicted for his role in bank robberies that occurred in June and September of 1993 in Canyon Country and Northridge.

His father, Los Angeles police Sgt. Dennis Pelch, was suspended for 33 days for helping his son avoid arrest.