San Jose kidnapping: 2 suspects in court, child's mother speaks
SAN JOSE, Calif. - A San Jose mother is happy and grateful today that her three-month old baby boy is in her arms again.
"I want justice to be done in the case of two people accused in the kidnap of my child," the woman said in Spanish through an interpreter outside the Hall of Justice in San Jose.
Inside Dept. 45, Yesenia Ramirez and Jose Portillo sat a few feet from each other. They listened and relied on an interpreter, as prosecutors detailed the charges against them. Both are charged with conspiracy to commit a kidnapping, kidnapping, and burglary. If convicted, they each could spend 11 years behind bars.
"We are always incredibly concerned when a child is taken from his mother," said Jeff Rosen, the Santa Clara County District Attorney. "This is more unusual and more frightening."
San Jose kidnapping: 2 suspects in court, child's mother speaks
A San Jose mother is happy and grateful today, that her three-month old baby boy is in her arms again. Meanwhile, two suspects involved appeared in court to hear details of the charges against them that could put them behind bars for 11 years.
Prosecutors said the pair knew each other, and the baby’s mother, through church.
The two suspects hatched a plan to kidnap the three-month-old boy Monday, following a grocery shopping trip. Investigators said Portillo is the man in this surveillance video taking the child from a second floor apartment on Elm Street around 1 p.m.
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"You have to have a lot of stuff to support that kidnapped baby to keep it from drawing attention to itself," said Ken Gray, a retired FBI Special Agent-in-Charge who teaches criminal justice at the Univ. of New Haven.
This crime touched off a massive search involving San Jose police, Santa Clara County Sheriff’s deputies, the CHP, and the FBI.Nearly 20 hours later, the baby was found near Regional Medical Center.
"The fact that police found the child so quickly made it difficult, if there had been any plans to move the baby to another location," said Rosen.
The two suspects in court Thursday are held without bail, and have a restraining order in place.
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A third man, Baldomeo Sandaval, was released from the county jail Wednesday after all charges were dropped. Police investigators said if new evidence comes to light implicating him in the kidnapping, he’ll be rearrested.
The two suspects will be in court Friday afternoon to contest their no bail status. Court officials said they could enter a plea, but it isn’t required at this point in the process.