Back Behind Bars : An L.A. judge refuses to release an escapee from a Virginia chain gang, as a 41-year flight from the law--and a fugitive’s secret--come to an end.

A Los Angeles Municipal Court judge refused to release a 62-year-old Newhall man from jail Wednesday, the latest setback for Vincent Pelliccia, whose exemplary life was shattered Tuesday when police arrested him for escaping from a Virginia chain gang 41 years ago.

Judge Glenette Blackwell said she had no legal authority to grant bail for Pelliccia, who was arraigned Wednesday on a fugitive warrant for escape issued by Virginia authorities who want to extradite him to face the remaining nine years of his sentence.

“The court’s hands are tied,” said Blackwell, citing a law that prohibits bail in escape cases. She continued his extradition hearing until Sept. 4.

Secret From Children

Pelliccia, who had kept his past a secret from his five children, stood silently during the court hearing before being led back to jail. Outside court, his relatives lambasted a legal system that would punish a man who had led a model life the last 41 years.

“It’s an absolute tragedy,” said Colleen Pelliccia, his sister-in-law, who lives in Alta Loma. “Would you send a man to prison for nine years for breaking into a drugstore? I wouldn’t.”

Pelliccia, a retired movie studio electrician, might have kept his past a secret longer if his name had not appeared as a fugitive in a computer check by Los Angeles police who were conducting an investigation unrelated to Pelliccia.

Just out of the Army in 1945, Pelliccia was convicted of three counts of “store breaking” in Norwalk, Va. He served four months of a 10-year sentence before escaping May 26, 1946, from a road camp in South Hill, Va., said Wayne Farrar, public information officer for the Virginia Corrections Department.

Farrar said records show Pelliccia cut through his shackles and a wire fence surrounding the camp and walked away during the middle of the day. That year, he also served time in a Rhode Island prison for a similar offense, but the absence of computers back then prevented Virginia authorities from catching up with him.

Did Little to Hide

Pelliccia did little to hide from authorities. He kept his original Social Security number, although at some point he changed the last letter of his name from “o” to “a.” He moved to Southern California in 1959 and worked 28 years for the Burbank Studios, retiring as a foreman three months ago.

“It’s ludicrous to give him 10 years in jail,” said Pelliccia’s lawyer, Richard Behrens, who said his client was in a state of “shock.”

Behrens said he would ask Gov. George Deukmejian not to comply with the extradition request.

“If (Virginia authorities) really want him to serve time, it seems to be a case that cries for common sense,” he said.

Neighbors in Newhall were stunned that Pelliccia had ever been in trouble. They described him as an outgoing person who was always quick to help a neighbor patch a roof or fix a fence.

Helpful Neighbor

“He climbed a tree and rescued a kitten that had been there three days,” said neighbor Mary Kelly.

He was a familiar face in the neighborhood as he set out on his daily two-mile walk at 7 a.m.

“If anyone was doing anything, he would pitch in and help,” said Lewis Silvester, another neighbor.

“This is so out of character for him,” Silvester said of Pelliccia’s past. “He’s not the wild type.”

He said Pelliccia, who was divorced many years ago and lives alone, enjoyed ballroom dancing on the weekends, but spent much of his time working on his house and carefully tended yard with its border of rosebushes. A “For Sale” sign stands in front of Pelliccia’s modest home.

Silvester said his friend had planned to move to Florida to be close to one of his five grown children.

When police appeared at his door at 6 a.m. Tuesday, Pelliccia “ . . . started to shake a little,” Detective Tom O’Neil said.

“He thought they would forget. He had kept himself clean.” O’Neil said.

His family said Pelliccia always held a high regard for law enforcement.

“He brought up his children to follow the straight path,” said his brother, Emanuele Pelliccia of Alta Loma. “His kids didn’t know. Now they are in shock.”

“He should be pardoned,” Emanuele Pelliccia said.

Family Puzzled

His brother had confided his past to him but apparently not to other family members. Why Virginia authorities would want to extradite him after so many years is a mystery to the Pelliccia family.

“We didn’t feel we had the authority to forget it,” Farrar said. “There is no procedure for us to drop it.”

An application for a pardon from the governor of Virginia and a plea to Deukmejian to refuse to send Pelliccia back to Virginia apparently are the options open to Pelliccia.

Donna Lucas, deputy press secretary for Deukmejian, said the office has not received the extradition request and had no statement on Pelliccia’s plight.

Virginia Gov. Gerald Baliles will not consider clemency until Pelliccia returns to Virginia, a spokeswoman said, adding, “That’s state policy.”