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   Neighbor Charged in Kidnapping

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Topic: Neighbor Charged in Kidnapping (Read 197 times)

Rhune
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Neighbor Charged in Kidnapping
« on: Jun 9^th, 2003, 6:32pm »

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Police praise 9-year-old who described abductor
Authorities: Crime might have been 'linked through children'
Monday, June 9, 2003 Posted: 5:41 PM EDT (2141 GMT)

SAN JOSE, California (CNN) -- The suspect in the abduction of a 9-year-old girl is to be charged with kidnapping, felony assault and sexual assault, authorities said Monday.

"We have had a chance to re-interview the young lady. She's 9 years old, and it's certainly difficult to do that under these circumstances. But there is enough information to charge that," San Jose Police Chief Bill Lansdowne said on CNN's "Wolf Blitzer Reports."

The suspect's name has not been released.

The girl disappeared Friday afternoon after returning from school, and resurfaced late Sunday unhurt when she walked into a convenience store 30 miles away.

Monday morning, about eight hours later, authorities arrested a man a few blocks from the girl's family's home. The man's name has not been released.

"We're very confident it's the right person," Lansdowne said.

"He did have the vehicle we were looking for," Lansdowne said. "He matches the description, and the physical injuries that he has on his person match the circumstances of this situation."

A man who apparently waited at the home until the girl returned from school Friday afternoon took her, and then stayed long enough to beat her mother and half-brother, who arrived later, before speeding away at the wheel of a late-1980s or early 1990s four-door silver Honda Accord or similar vehicle, a San Jose police official said.

Mother gives thanks
The girl's mother, Rosalie Tamayo, told authorities that she might have scratched the man and bit his fingers while fighting with him after she and her 15-year-old son returned home Friday afternoon.

Lansdowne said the man resisted arrest and was "uncooperative" during questioning.

"During the course of the arrest, he did struggle with the officers," Lansdowne said. "He was bitten by a police dog and assaulted the officers, kicked them several times. He was taken to the hospital, treated and released."

Tamayo joined police Monday afternoon at a news conference, where she tearfully gave thanks in Spanish to everyone who assisted or prayed for the little girl's safe return.

"What it feels like to lose a child, I think, you feel like you're going to die," she said, her face marked by bruises from fighting with her daughter's abductor. "That's why all I can say is thanks to all of you who helped me, supported me and prayed, and thank God my daughter is with me."

Deputy Chief Rob Davis, the lead investigator on the case, said the family's descriptions matched the suspect. He and Lansdowne credited the girl's descriptions in helping make the arrest.

"[She] is an extremely bright and articulate young woman, and she's also brave," Davis said. "She was able to give us enough detail. She was giving us enough detail to locate a location where we thought we might encounter a suspect."

San Jose police assigned more than 150 officers to the case after the girl disappeared, but the break came late Sunday, when the fourth-grader wandered into the Eastside Market in East Palo Alto.

"She was crying, scared, and I asked, 'How can I help you?' " store owner Isa Yasin recalled, adding that he saw no one drop her off near his store and that she did not discuss her ordeal.

Earlier, Davis said investigators had collected evidence indicating "that it went beyond just a random act," though he said the abductor was apparently a stranger to the girl, her brother and her mother.

Monday afternoon, he said the crime appeared to have been "linked through the children."

"The victim has a friend who is related to somebody who knows the suspect," he said, "but we really don't want to say anything more than that."

Police: Second person possibly involved
Davis said police were considering the possibility that a second person might have been involved, based on a neighbor's videotape that captured the incident.

A second vehicle pulled up alongside the abductor's car, police said, and the two drivers might have spoken.

San Jose Police Sgt. Steve Dixon said the suspect "was alone at the time that we arrested him."

The surveillance tape showed the abductor drive up to the house and spend several minutes inside while no one was home. When the girl came home from school about 4 p.m., the man stayed inside about half an hour, before coming back outside and backing his car into the garage.

A few minutes later, Tamayo and her son Pablo arrived. When the garage door stuck, Pablo crawled beneath and was attacked by the abductor. Hearing the commotion, the mother ran into the garage from the house, and the two fought with the man for about 10 minutes while the girl sat in his car.

The boy escaped and ran to a neighbor's home, but before anyone could be summoned, the tape shows the suspect's vehicle tearing out of the driveway, taking out greenery and garbage cans from a neighbor's house.

-- CNN correspondent Thelma Gutierrez and producer Jamie McShane contributed to this report.

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Rhune
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Re: Neighbor Charged in Kidnapping
« Reply #1 on: Jun 10^th, 2003, 10:21am »

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SAN JOSE, California (CNN) -- The suspect in the abduction of a 9-year-old California girl faces charges of kidnapping, felony assault and sexual assault and will likely be arraigned on Wednesday, authorities said.

San Jose Police initially identified the suspect as David Montiel Cruz, 24, saying that was the name that showed up in the system after they fingerprinted him.

However, police said Tuesday that Cruz has used several aliases, and they booked him under the name Enrique Alvarez because they found that name on a document, which they wouldn't identify. He also is to be charged under that name.

"We're very sure that the suspect we do have in custody is the primary suspect who did the actual kidnapping," Lansdowne said.

San Jose Police Sgt. Steve Dixon said the suspect "was alone at the time that we arrested him."

The girl was found alive late Sunday when she walked into a convenience store in East Palo Alto, about 30 miles from her San Jose home, where she had been taken Friday after returning from school. The incident was captured on a neighbor's surveillance camera.

Pizza delivery key clue
Police said the girl, whose name is being withheld because of the sexual assault allegation, was able to describe the house where she was held and a pizza delivery that took place. Police said they went to the pizza restaurant and got an address. The suspect was discovered in the attic of the home, and police said he put up a fight when arrested.

He was put in a car wearing a plastic mask, which police explained was to keep him from spitting on them.

Lansdowne said it was unclear what the relationship may have been between the suspect and the girl's family, but they have friends in common. The suspect was arrested Monday a few blocks from the family's home.

"During the course of the arrest, he did struggle with the officers," Lansdowne said earlier. "He was bitten by a police dog and assaulted the officers, kicked them several times. He was taken to the hospital, treated and released."

Deputy Chief Rob Davis, the lead investigator in the case, told CNN late Monday that the suspect had started cooperating with investigators who were questioning him about the girl.

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Rhune
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Re: Neighbor Charged in Kidnapping
« Reply #2 on: Jun 11^th, 2003, 4:11pm »

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California abduction suspect faces arraignment
Pizza delivery led police to suspect
Wednesday, June 11, 2003 Posted: 2:09 PM EDT (1809 GMT)

SAN JOSE, California (CNN) -- The man accused in the abduction of a 9-year-old girl will be arraigned Wednesday afternoon on a variety of charges that could bring him life in prison.

The hearing for Enrique Sosa Alvarez, 23, also known as David Montiel Cruz, was scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. (5 p.m. EDT). Alvarez was arrested Monday near the girl's home and is being held at the Santa Clara County jail without bail.

The charges against Alvarez include residential burglary, two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, one count of rape, two counts of forcible lewd acts on a child and child endangerment, Santa Clara Deputy District Attorney Matt Braker said.

"In addition, the defendant is charged with special allegations for the kidnapping and tying and binding of the victim," Braker said. The special circumstances surrounding the kidnapping charge bumps up the maximum sentence.

If convicted on all counts, Alvarez could face 115 years or life in prison, prosecutors said.

The girl, whose name was being kept private because of the rape charge, was abducted Friday afternoon after she had come home from school in an incident captured by a neighbor's surveillance camera. The suspect was still at home with the girl when her mother and 15-year old brother returned to the house, and the two were injured fighting with the man as he left with the girl.

Alvarez was charged with assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury in connection with an attack on the victim's brother, and with felony battery causing serious bodily injury in connection with an assault on the victim's mother, Braker said.

Braker described the young victim as "an amazing little girl with a courage seldom seen.

"It is her bravery and ability to maintain her wits that lead to the arrest and now prosecution of her assailant," he said.

He also commended the girl's mother and brother.

"Each of them bears the injuries and scars from their efforts to stop the assaults of their sister and daughter."

Attempted murder charge 'off the table'
Regarding an earlier report that authorities planned to charge the suspect with attempted murder, Assistant District Attorney Karyn Sinunu said only that the charge was "off the table for now."

The girl was found alive late Sunday after she went into a convenience store in East Palo Alto, 30 miles from her home. The store owner realized the girl was the one police were seeking.

San Jose Deputy Police Chief Rob Davis also praised the girl for remaining calm during her ordeal.

"She kept her head about her, she kept her wits about her, she was observant, she paid attention, she thought on her feet as things were going along," Davis said.

"She didn't just sit back and be a victim. She was actively thinking all of the time about what was going on around her, clearly details about a residence, thinking of ways that she could remember things."

Police have said the girl described the house where she was held and a pizza delivery that took place. Police said they got an address from the pizza restaurant and found the suspect in the attic of that home.

Authorities said he put up a fight when arrested, kicking several arresting officers. A K-9 unit dog bit his arm during the arrest, and the wound required medical care.

At one point, Alvarez was put into a police car with a plastic mask on his face, which authorities said protected police from being spit upon. He has since been said to be cooperating with authorities.

Davis said earlier Tuesday that authorities were eliminating the possibility of a second person involved in the abduction, based on "solid evidence" that the suspect acted alone.

Police said the girl might have said something to her abductor that led him to release her, but they declined to elaborate.

The motive in the case was unclear, though authorities have said the family shares common friends with the suspect.

Investigators are trying to learn more about the suspect, who they say has used several aliases. CNN has learned that they are examining the past year to see if he has had any contact with other children, who would then be interviewed.

-- CNN Correspondent Dan Lothian and Producer Stan Wilson contributed to this report.

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Addams
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Re: Neighbor Charged in Kidnapping
« Reply #3 on: Jun 11^th, 2003, 4:55pm »

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a brave girl. she is going to need our prayers for a while I think because as time passes this may impact her more. She's a really smart, brave little girl. Good for that store manager for recognizing her.

Also the neighbour's security camera. A brave family and I hope they all recover fully. As far as the perpetrator well I would be satisfied if he gets 115 years.

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