GLENDALE : Suspect in Robberies Forgos His Hearing

A suspected serial bank robber called his preliminary hearing Monday a sham and told a Glendale Municipal Court judge he wanted to skip the proceedings and go straight to trial.

Rickey Alford, 36, of Palmdale, is accused of taking nearly $15,000 from six banks in the San Fernando Valley, La Crescenta and La Canada between July 31 and Aug. 31 of last year. All were Bank of America branches except the first, a Great Western Bank, officials said.

On Monday, prosecutors were set to present their case--six felony counts of armed robbery and six counts of a felony possession of a weapon--against Alford when he made the unusual request before Judge Joseph F. DeVanon.

“I see it as a sham--that’s why I’m going to waiver,” Alford, who has chosen to represent himself, said of Monday’s proceedings. “I’m planning on dealing with it in federal court.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Mark Kim made no objection, and the judge set arraignment for May 4 in Pasadena Superior Court.

Alford, who had been convicted of robbery in 1977, was arrested in October, 1992, for investigation of an Antelope Valley rape, officials said. Earlier this year, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Inspector Ken Talianko, assigned to the sheriff’s La Crescenta station, matched Alford’s booking photo with bank surveillance photos taken of the robber.

Alford remains in custody at the Men’s Central Jail in Los Angeles in lieu of $180,000 bail.