Alleged burglars involved in police chase plead not guilty

Two burglary suspects allegedly connected to an organized group of thieves pleaded not guilty Monday afternoon to burglarizing an upscale Glendale home last week before leading police on a car and foot chase in Atwater.

Andre Piolet, 26, of Ladera Heights and Lanay Pennel, 19, of Los Angeles were charged with felony first-degree residential burglary and felony evading an officer, according to a Los Angeles County Superior Court complaint. Piolet faces an additional charge for misdemeanor resisting arrest.

Piolet, who has been two convicted for first-degree burglary, was held in lieu of $1.19 million bail, Glendale police officials said. Pennel was remained in custody in lieu of $125,000 bail.

A third defendant, Billie Bell, 24, of Inglewood, faces the same charges, but he was released on bail Sunday and wasn’t arraigned the following day, officials said.

The trio was arrested Thursday after allegedly burglarizing a home in the 800 block of Cumberland Road in North Glendale. The men then led police on a car chase to Atwater Village, where they fled on foot and were eventually arrested.

Pennel, Piolet and Bell are connected to a larger network of burglars made up of South Los Angeles gangs that have been targeting affluent neighborhood in Glendale and the Valley, police said.

Piolet and Bell are scheduled to appear April 14 in Los Angeles County Superior Court in Burbank for a preliminary hearing.

-- Veronica Rocha, Times Community News

Twitter; @VeronicaRochaLA