Suspect arrested in abduction of girl found after two days

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Police arrested a suspect Monday in the abduction of Jennette Tamayo just 10 hours after the shaken 9-year- old girl walked into a convenience store scared but safe.

The man, who police said did not carry identification, was taken into custody around 8:30 a.m. after police served a search warrant on a San Jose home where he was staying with a friend, Police Chief William Lansdowne said.

The home was less than a mile from where an intruder brazenly kidnapped Jennette on Friday after savagely beating her mother and brother. Police said Monday they believe the man knew of the fourth- grade girl through one of her former schoolmates -- though neither Jennette nor her family knew him.

The man tried to fight off officers and was taken to the hospital after a police dog bit him, Sgt. Steve Dixon said.

The man looked like a police sketch of the suspect and had injuries consistent with what police expected from the struggle he had with Jennette's mother, Lansdowne said.

"We're very confident this is the right person," Lansdowne said.

The girl's mother, her face still puffy from Friday's attack, thanked authorities, the media and her neighbors as she choked back tears.

"I want to tell all mothers not to let your kids walk alone on the street, no matter how secure it is," Rosalie Tamayo said in Spanish. "Because when you feel you lose a child, I think it is like the feeling of dying."

Jennette's ordeal ended about 10:30 p.m. Sunday, when she walked into the Eastside Market in East Palo Alto, said Isa Yasin, the owner of the shop. "She was crying and scared," said Yasin.

Reunited with her mother and other relatives, Jennette was in good spirits -- and because she remained alert during the ordeal, provided investigators with information leading to the arrest, Lansdowne said.

She was healthy and did not suffer major physical injuries, Lansdowne said. Investigators were trying to determine if she had been sexually assaulted.

Investigators believe Jennette remained in the San Francisco Bay area during her abduction, although police declined to provide further details about the girl's time in captivity.

Deputy Chief Rob Davis said police believe the abduction was not a random crime: not only did the attacker wait for Jennette to return home -- alone -- from school Friday, he twice told Jennette's mother "you know what I want" as he beat her in her home before screeching off with Jennette in the back seat of his car.

The man told Jennette not to call police, so she first tried to call her mother, though she was too shaken to dial the number, Davis said.

Davis said neither Jennette's father nor stepfather were suspects.

Police interviewed the father, Pablo Velasquez, who told the San Jose Mercury News he had not seen Jennette for two years because of a child support dispute.

"That guy has hurt me," Velasquez said. "That's my only daughter and I love her very much."

Much of the ordeal was caught by a neighbor's video surveillance camera. Released before Jennette's discovery Sunday, the tape contains several brutal images and sounds.

The videotape showed a man pulling up in front of Tamayo's home Friday afternoon and going inside. After approximately 25 minutes, the suspect returned to wait in the car. At one point another car drove past, then backed up and lingered next to the suspect's car. Police said they were looking for the driver of that car.

At approximately 4:20 p.m., Jennette was seen crossing the street and entering the house alone. The man got out of the car about 90 seconds later and followed her into the house.

After another 25 minutes inside, the suspect came back outside, backed his car into the garage and closed the door.

Around this time, Jennette's mother, aunt and 15-year-old brother drove up. The aunt got out and drove away in a separate car, while the boy tried to open the garage door. He managed to pry the bottom part of the door open and crawled underneath, at which point, police say, he was attacked.

While the attack isn't visible on the surveillance tape, sounds of the altercation can be heard and Rosalie Tamayo was seen running inside the house to help her son. Police said the suspect confronted her between the kitchen and garage, and beat her with pans and a ladder.

By now the boy had broken free, and ran outside for help. His mother came out moments later, beaten and bloodied but screaming for help as well. The suspect then pulled out of the driveway with Jennette inside in his car and sped across the lawn, crushing rose bushes along the way.

The abduction shook residents of Jennette's quiet middle-class neighborhood.

But residents also said the area will bounce back, given Jennette's safe return. Reed McInroy, who lives a few houses down the street from the Tamayo family, said a block party is scheduled for early next month.

"I guarantee you it's going to be the biggest block party you ever saw," McInroy said.

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