Man Rearrested in Robberies : Crime: Alex Yepes was acquitted of federal charges in a pair of bank heists, but he and three other men now face state charges in connection with the incidents.

A man acquitted on federal charges of robbing two banks while employees and their families were held hostage at home has been rearrested on state charges stemming from the crimes, authorities said Monday.

Alex Yepes, 26, faces at least three dozen counts of kidnaping for robbery and other charges related to a pair of bank heists in Canyon Country and Northridge in 1993, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Susan Chatsworth. In both incidents, family members of a bank employee were held overnight by multiple gunmen who forced the employee to withdraw money from the vault the next day.

Yepes is one of four Santa Clarita men charged by the district attorney’s office last week in connection with one or both robberies, Chatsworth said. She said the new charges are for alleged crimes outside the federal court’s jurisdiction.

“The federal government charged them with the robberies and the conspiracy to commit the robberies, whereas the crux of the charges here are the crimes against the individuals that led up to the robberies,” she said.

But Yepes’ attorney, Gerald Scotti, argued that the new charges were filed only because jurors acquitted Yepes after three days of deliberations during last October’s federal trial.

“This is clearly, to me, vindictive prosecution and sour grapes,” Scotti said. “I can see where they don’t think it was the right verdict, but they should accept it.”

Scotti told jurors during the federal trial that Yepes was with friends during both robberies and the real thieves implicated him because he refused an invitation to participate. The attorney said Monday he will also challenge the state case on grounds of double jeopardy.

Yepes, arrested Friday in Santa Clarita while picking his wife up from work, pleaded not guilty Monday to the charges against him in Municipal Court in Van Nuys. He is in custody in lieu of $500,000 bail.

A second suspect, Chad Pelch, 24, is already serving a 10-year federal sentence after pleading guilty to charges in the Canyon Country robbery. His brother Brett Pelch, 27, suspected in both robberies, and Donald Sallee, 27, suspected in the Northridge robbery, have remained at large since the heists.

All four men face at least 13 state charges, including kidnaping for robbery, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Detective Jerry Johnson. Other charges include false imprisonment, auto theft and assault.

The first robbery occurred June 11, 1993, at the TransWorld Bank in Canyon Country when Toula Demosthenous and eight others were held hostage in her Canyon Country home. Several kidnapers accompanied Demosthenous to the bank the next morning, stealing more than $100,000 from the vault.

A similar robbery occurred Sept. 17, 1993, at the Coast Federal Bank in Northridge. Bank officer Terry Duranbo and four others were held hostage in her Canoga Park home before she was forced to give the gunmen money from the bank.

Demosthenous, who was visibly disappointed after Yepes’ acquittal in federal court, said in a phone interview Monday she was happy to know he was behind bars again.

“I guess there is a God after all,” she said.

But Demosthenous said she is far from certain Yepes will be convicted, despite what she feels is strong evidence from eyewitnesses and other suspects who identified him as one of the robbers.

“With the system we have, who knows?” she said.

Another suspect in the Northridge robbery, Darren Patrick Towers, was arrested in December, 1993, and pleaded guilty to involvement in activities leading up to the robbery. He is currently serving a 15-year federal prison sentence.

Towers, who is expected to be a prosecution witness during the state trials, has not yet been charged by the district attorney’s office with any additional crimes, Chatsworth added.

Chad Pelch and Yepes were first arrested in February, 1994, in Las Vegas.

Authorities declined to comment on their search for the two men who remain at large.