Posted on Fri, Jun. 06, 2003 | ![]() ![]() |
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A 9-year-old being babysat by her brother Friday afternoon was snatched from her home by a man who apparently had broken in through a window and fought off the family on his way out.
Police said the kidnapper, who wasn't known to the family, dragged Jennette Tamayo out the door of the Southwind Drive home and into the garage, where he had a car waiting. The girl's 12-year-old brother, Pablo, had been choked by the man. The children's mother was bloodied from being hit in the face and upper chest.
Roselia Tamayo ran to her neighbor's house for help.
``She was covered with blood,'' said Corrie Monzon. ``She was hysterical. All she told me was `Amiga, amiga, please call 911! Someone broke in the house! He got Jennette! He got Jennette! Please help!' ''
San Jose police and paramedics soon arrived, and officers searched the area and asked authorities in neighboring counties to look out for the kidnapper and victim. But they hadn't found them by late Friday. Information about the kidnapping couldn't be posted on highway signs -- in an Amber Alert -- because police didn't have the abductor's license plate number.
San Jose police said the girl's mother arrived home about 4:30 p.m., parked in the driveway and walked inside. She saw the stranger, and the two immediately began to grapple. Tamayo was hit in the face and the girl's brother was choked as they fought with the intruder.
``It's extremely bizarre,'' said San Jose police spokeswoman Catherine Unger. Authorities couldn't confirm how long the man was in the house before the mother's arrival, or what he had been doing. ``We don't know if this was an interrupted burglary. We just don't know.''
The man, whose car was backed into the garage for an easy exit, took off with Jennette, maneuvering around Tamayo's car in the driveway and barreling over shrubs and a rose bush. He was driving a newer brown or silver car, and headed toward Monterey Highway.
Friend and next-door neighbor Monzon said she and her husband heard screaming but thought it was children playing outdoors as they often do in the neighborhood. Then Tamayo came to the side of the house, frantically calling for help and bleeding from her mouth and a gash on her forehead.
Monzon said Tamayo wanted to get in a car and follow her daughter's kidnapper. But police arrived in minutes and soon she was on her way to the hospital.
Police said there's no reason to believe the family knew the kidnapper. Police said the mother said she didn't recognize him.
The abductor is described as cleanshaven, in his 20s, 5 feet 2, and wearing a gray beanie or cap and a light, short-sleeve shirt. He has a scratch on his face that was caused during the fight with Tamayo. When confronted during the assault, the intruder spoke Spanish, police said.
The girl is Latina, 4 feet 11 and chubby. She has long black hair with blond streaks, brown eyes and was wearing a green shirt and black pants.