2 ‘Veteran Criminals’ Face 93 Felony Charges in Widespread Crime Spree

Two “veteran criminals” who employed young apprentices to aid them in a crime spree stretching from North Hollywood to the South Bay, will be charged with 93 felonies--including attempted murder, rape, assault and robbery, police said Thursday.

One man, Pierre Hebert, 30, will be charged in the wounding of an off-duty Los Angeles police officer, who surprised a gunman robbing her Crenshaw-area home last November, detectives said.

Hebert and Clarence Myers, 31, are also accused of at least 13 residential robberies in which the occupants were tied up, beaten and, in some instances, raped, Southwest Division Detective Jerry Anslow said.

“These two veteran criminals recruited and trained two juveniles who mastered the art of committing some of society’s most heinous crimes,” Anslow said.

In most of the crimes, 17-year-olds were used by the robbers to stand guard over the victims while valuables were taken from the homes, he said.

One 17-year-old arrested in the case, whose name was not released because of his age, is charged with 29 felony counts alleging assault and robbery, the detective said. The other juvenile is believed to have fled the state.

A six-member police detail was formed to solve the crimes, Anslow said. Two Southwest Division officers from the squad, Bill Anderson and Glen Clark, were patrolling on June 17 in the 1200 block of W. Browning Boulevard, about four blocks west of the Memorial Coliseum, when they arrested Myers and a juvenile as they allegedly tried to break into an unoccupied home.

Officers subsequently used three search warrants to confiscate a cache of stolen goods from Myers’ home and car. The items recovered included stereo components, guns, stolen cars and jewelry items, detectives said.

But the bulk of the stolen jewelry apparently had been fenced for cash, Anslow said.

Meanwhile, another member of the special police detail, Detective Ken Hamilton, learned that a late-model black Camaro was used in some of the robberies. He also remembered that a Camaro was the getaway car used by a gunman who shot Officer Kimberly Bragg, 28, after she surprised a robber in her home last Nov. 13, detectives said. That information led to Hebert, who was already in jail on unrelated charges of armed robbery, rape and grand theft auto, Anslow said.

“Hebert’s fingerprints matched those of the suspect at the (Bragg) crime scene,” Anslow said.

Bragg suffered a perforated lung when a bullet passed through her chest. She has recovered and is back on duty.

Myers, who faces 55 felony counts, and the juvenile in custody are not charged in the Bragg shooting.

Detectives said they are filing a complaint alleging one count of attempted murder and two counts of robbery against Hebert, who also faces 35 other charges involving robbery, burglary and assault.

Anslow said Myers was released from state prison in March after serving 11 1/2 years for Los Angeles-area armed robberies, rapes and burglaries, Anslow said.