LAPD Finds Father Guilty of Aiding Son

A Los Angeles Police Department panel found a veteran sergeant guilty Tuesday of protecting his son, the target of a nationwide manhunt as a suspected bank robber and kidnapper, from arrest by FBI agents.

An LAPD Board of Rights panel found that Sgt. Dennis Pelch “inappropriately assisted” his 28-year-old son, Brett, who was featured on the “America’s Most Wanted” TV show as the FBI hunted him on suspicion of two bank robberies in 1993.

The sergeant’s other son, Chad, had already been arrested on suspicion of taking part in the robberies in Canyon Country and Northridge, police said.

Following a 10-hour hearing Monday and about five hours of deliberations Tuesday, the three-member panel also found Pelch not guilty on three other charges of misconduct, including failing to cooperate with the FBI and misleading an internal affairs investigator.

Pelch, a 28-year LAPD veteran who was relieved of duty last month, could receive punishment ranging from a reprimand to termination.

The board decided Tuesday on a penalty, but LAPD officials would not disclose what it is, pending a review by Police Chief Willie L. Williams.

Neither Pelch nor his Sherman Oaks attorney would comment on the case Tuesday.

Police sources said that Pelch maintains that he did nothing wrong and that he did not inappropriately shield his son from authorities.

But Deputy Dist. Atty. Susan Chasworth said the elder Pelch probably arranged in February 1994 to provide transportation for his son, while the son was a federal fugitive.

Further, she said, evidence shows that after warrants had been issued for his son’s arrest, Pelch visited him in San Diego and helped get his hairpiece repaired, for use as a disguise.

“The evidence definitely seems to indicate that he knew his son’s whereabouts and that he helped him,” Chasworth said. “It seems like they [the Board of Rights] should have found those other charges to be true.”

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Brett Pelch, formerly of Valencia, was arrested in Pacific Grove in August. He is currently in custody awaiting trial on kidnapping, hostage-taking and other charges related to the 1993 robberies.

Brett and Chad Pelch, along with three other men, were accused of bursting into the homes of two bank branch managers in separate incidents in 1993 and holding their families and friends hostage until morning.

In the Northridge case, the family included twins under a year old and a nanny; in Canyon Country, the family included parents, teenagers and friends.

After holding the groups hostage at gunpoint overnight, the robbers then accompanied the managers to their banks before they were scheduled to open to the public, authorities said.

The men then forced the managers of TransWorld Bank in Canyon Country and Coast Federal Bank in Northridge to open the bank vaults and made off with a combined total of about $215,000, police and prosecutors say.

Chad Pelch, 24, was caught in Las Vegas and pleaded guilty to bank robbery but Brett remained free for two years.

A federal court jury acquitted Alex Yepes, one of the alleged robbers, but the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office filed state charges against him and he remains in custody. Darren Patrick Towers, who police say was an accomplice, was arrested in December 1993 and confessed to the FBI, officials said.

Authorities say the fifth alleged accomplice, Donald Patrick Sallee, is still at large.

Police say Brett Pelch escaped arrest by hopscotching the West--from San Diego to Las Vegas, Northern California and perhaps Canada--helped in part by his father. When he was arrested, a month after his picture and description appeared on the television show “America’s Most Wanted,” authorities said they found his hairpiece and a gun in the car.

LAPD officials, who first became aware of the allegations against Sgt. Pelch a year ago, say it was an unusual case mainly because of Pelch’s position.

“The heart of this case is what do we expect from our police officers,” said Steve Harer, an LAPD advocate--roughly equivalent to a prosecutor--who presented the case to the panel.

“This case is unique because he’s a police officer. What is his responsibility--as a police officer and a father--to his son?”

Said Lt. Rick Smith: “It’s a hell of a dilemma to be a father and a police officer and have your son wander off the path that far. It’s tough.”

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Pelch was charged with four counts of misconduct, including two counts of “inappropriately assisting” a known felon, one count of failing to cooperate with the FBI and another count of making false and misleading statements to an LAPD’s internal affairs official.

Investigators from the FBI first brought the information about Pelch’s alleged protection of his son to the LAPD one year ago. An internal LAPD investigation followed, which officials say substantiated the FBI’s claims.

FBI authorities refused to comment Tuesday.

The three-member Board of Rights panel, which included Cmdr. Tim McBride, Capt. Bob Gale of the West Valley Division and Melvin Lennard, a civilian, now will submit a explanation of their findings to the chief, who has the discretion to lower the punishment.

LAPD officials predict that process could take a couple of weeks before the punishment is made public.