4-Hour Pursuit Ends in Capture of 2 Fugitives : Crime: Police from five cities chase brothers sought in a six-state series of burglaries and an attempted murder.

After a four-hour chase involving 20 police officers from five South Bay cities, Hermosa Beach police arrested two Louisiana brothers wanted in connection with a series of burglaries in six states and the attempted murder of a police officer, authorities said Monday.

Roy Lee (Bubba) Massey, 28, and John Lee Massey, 27, were being held on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, grand theft and receiving stolen property, police said. Authorities also are searching for Michelle Klug, a girlfriend and traveling partner of the Masseys who is wanted by Houston police for questioning in the disappearance of an infant.

The brothers were arrested early Monday morning after a chase that had begun at 10:40 p.m. Sunday. The pursuit left two officers slightly injured when their cruisers were rammed by the Masseys’ pick-up, said Hermosa Beach Police Commander Anthony Altfeld.

“These boys were driving like stock car racers,” Altfeld said, adding that Roy Massey had indulged in the sport in Louisiana.

The men, who were taken to the Hermosa Beach police station, have been the subject of four segments on the television program “America’s Most Wanted.” The suspects were to be taken to an unspecified location, police said.

Louisiana police have linked the suspects to more than 100 residential burglaries in affluent areas of Baton Rouge and other Southern cities as far back as 1988. Five other states have warrants for their arrests in connection with felony thefts, authorities said.

“They were a policeman’s nightmare,” said Baton Rouge, La., Police Sgt. Dennis Kelley, who tracked the men for three years.

The pair earned a reputation for carefully selecting their booty and fleeing officers at breakneck speeds. The FBI issued a fugitive warrant in April, 1991, after law enforcement authorities linked the brothers to a string of burglaries in a number of states and the attempted murder of a Baton Rouge police officer in 1989.

The Masseys allegedly drove straight at the officer, who jumped out of the way in the nick of time, Kelley said. “It was one of those real close deals,” Kelley said.

After his arrest, John Massey told investigators that the pair ended up in Hermosa Beach at least a month ago after “driving west until we hit water and couldn’t drive any more,” Altfeld said.

Hermosa Beach officers had been called to a fight at a home in the 1200 block of 6th Street, in which one of the Masseys allegedly hit a resident in the head with a pistol. Police began looking for the brothers based on a description of the pickup truck they were driving. Police learned later that the truck had been stolen in West Los Angeles. After spotting the truck in Hermosa Beach, a chase ensued through Hermosa, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach and Torrance, ending in El Segundo.

The Masseys were caught after they crashed the truck into a mound of dirt in El Segundo and attempted to flee on foot in an industrial area. A police dog bit Roy Massey, but neither he nor his brother were seriously injured in the capture, Altfeld said.

The pursuit did not surprise Kelley, the Louisiana officer who said he has charted the brothers’ flight across Louisiana, Georgia, Texas, California, Florida and North and South Carolina.

“They are high-speed police chase experts,” Kelley said.