SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – Two people charged in the highly-publicized kidnapping of a San Jose infant discussed taking the baby several times before the incident, the Santa Clara District Attorney's Office said on Thursday.
For more, stream KCBS Radio now.
Prosecutors have charged 43-year-old Yesenia Ramirez and 28-year-old Jose Portillo with additional attempted kidnapping charges.
In one of the alleged three previous attempts, Portillo even posed as a Child Protective Services worker to try and take the three-month-old boy. Authorities said the family grew suspicious of Portillo and "refused to give up the boy" after calling CPS to verify his identity. Ramirez and Portillo plotted that particular kidnapping attempt on March 14, prosecutors said.
Later that month, the suspects are accused of twice plotting to kidnap the infant at a local Walmart store – once on March 28 and again the morning of the baby's actual kidnapping on April 25.
According to a news release, Ramirez and Portillo "were unable to switch shopping carts in an effort for Portillo to leave the store with Brandon" in the first attempt. During the second failed attempt, the suspects "were unable to distract Brandon's grandmother."
"There are few things more terrifying than someone stealing a child, as if they're a car or a wallet," Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said on Thursday. "The more we investigate this case and the more troubling it gets, the more determined we are to prosecute those responsible to the fullest extent of the law."
The boy, identified as Brandon Cuellar, was kidnapped from his grandmother's house while his mother was at work. According to the District Attorney's Office, Ramirez – a family friend – drove the grandmother to a local Walmart to go shopping. When they returned to the home on the 100 block of Elm St. in San Jose, Cuellar's grandmother left him on a bed while unpacking the car.
Moments later, the child was gone.
Security footage captured the kidnapper walking out of the apartment with an infant car seat covered by a blanket. The infant was located one day later at Portillo's apartment. Three suspects were initially arrested, though only two were charged. Baldomeo Sandoval, 37, was later released.
Both Ramirez and Portillo appeared in court for a bail hearing on Thursday.
Both remain in jail without bail.
The case remains under investigation.
LISTEN to KCBS Radio
FAVORITE KCBS Radio
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Related
