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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With Steve Dixon

Aired June 08, 2003 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: In California now, a statewide Amber Alert remains posted for a 9-year-old girl snatched from her home Friday. Police say the kidnapper brutally attacked Jennette Tamayo's mother and brother inside their San Jose home, then took off with the little girl. Police say the best leads could come from a neighbor's surveillance camera. The suspect is in his 30s or early 40s, around 5'5", about 160 pounds, with an unshaven face and dark hair. He was wearing a gray nit cap and silver shirt. On the phone with us is -- now, this morning is Sergeant Steve Dixon with the San Jose Police Department.
Sergeant Dixon, thanks for being with us this morning. I want to talk to you, of course, about this neighbor's surveillance video. This must seem like a godsend to you as far as clues in this case. Where does it stand now?

SGT. STEVE DIXON, SAN JOSE POLICE DEPARTMENT: Yes, it actually is a very good piece of evidence for us. It's kind of a grainy video, it's taken from some distance away and it's a time-lapse photography, but it is going to be a very helpful piece of evidence for us. We're trying to get it enhanced, right now, with our county crime lab, but it does show us a lot of information that we did not have before.

COLLINS: Any idea at this point -- we're looking at that video now and the way that those cameras were mounted on the neighbor's home there. Boy, it certainly does seem lucky. Any idea how the suspect got into the home originally?

DIXON: We don't know how he got in. Now, there was a broken window at the home, and that was not done by the suspect, that was actually done by the mother earlier Friday, accidentally, so he did have access through that window. We don't know that he went in through that window. But, the video does show us one thing very clearly, it showed that the suspect targeted this particular house. We don't know the motivation, but he did target this particular house. In fact when the video starts, the segment that we have shows him driving right down the street at South Wind Drive and he pulls up right in front of that house. So, he did target this particular house, we know that for sure.

COLLINS: So, I'm not sure if this is a correct connection to make or not, but does that tell you, at least with the past work you have done in similar cases, if there are such a thing, that he may have, in fact, known this family?

DIXON: Well, it tells us that's a possibility, but somehow, like I say, the suspect went to this particular house. We know that when he drove there -- we don't have the exact time, but when he drove there, he went up to the house; he spent probably 12, 13 minutes at the house when no one was at home. He had time -- if it was just a regular burglary, he had time to commit the burglary at that time, but he walked back out, he sat in his car for probably another 20, 30 minutes, waited for a long time. This little girl, Jennette Tamayo, she came home from school and once she walked into the house, he went back to the house, probably within a minute, minute and a-half of her getting home, he went back up to the house. So, we don't know if he targeted her specifically or what his motivation was, but we do know, like I say, he was targeting this house and really had time to commit a burglary and did not.

COLLINS: In speaking with the family, as I'm sure you have done after the trauma of all this, any idea if they know who this person could possibly be?

DIXON: If they do, they haven't told us and we don't know that they do. But, I -- and it's kind of an extended family, they have relatives in Southern California, they have other relatives in Mexico and so it's -- we're trying to conduct our investigation and contact everyone that is associated with this family, not just relatives, but friends and co-workers and, of course, that's quite an extended group, but again, it does help kind of help narrow our investigation. This is not a random person driving around in South San Jose that just happened to select the house. We know he had already selected this particular house.

COLLINS: All right, very good. We certainly appreciate your information, as much of it as you do have, so far in this case.

Sergeant Steve Dixon with the San Jose Police Department, this morning.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired June 8, 2003 - 09:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: In California now, a statewide Amber Alert remains posted for a 9-year-old girl snatched from her home Friday. Police say the kidnapper brutally attacked Jennette Tamayo's mother and brother inside their San Jose home, then took off with the little girl. Police say the best leads could come from a neighbor's surveillance camera. The suspect is in his 30s or early 40s, around 5'5", about 160 pounds, with an unshaven face and dark hair. He was wearing a gray nit cap and silver shirt. On the phone with us is -- now, this morning is Sergeant Steve Dixon with the San Jose Police Department.
Sergeant Dixon, thanks for being with us this morning. I want to talk to you, of course, about this neighbor's surveillance video. This must seem like a godsend to you as far as clues in this case. Where does it stand now?

SGT. STEVE DIXON, SAN JOSE POLICE DEPARTMENT: Yes, it actually is a very good piece of evidence for us. It's kind of a grainy video, it's taken from some distance away and it's a time-lapse photography, but it is going to be a very helpful piece of evidence for us. We're trying to get it enhanced, right now, with our county crime lab, but it does show us a lot of information that we did not have before.

COLLINS: Any idea at this point -- we're looking at that video now and the way that those cameras were mounted on the neighbor's home there. Boy, it certainly does seem lucky. Any idea how the suspect got into the home originally?

DIXON: We don't know how he got in. Now, there was a broken window at the home, and that was not done by the suspect, that was actually done by the mother earlier Friday, accidentally, so he did have access through that window. We don't know that he went in through that window. But, the video does show us one thing very clearly, it showed that the suspect targeted this particular house. We don't know the motivation, but he did target this particular house. In fact when the video starts, the segment that we have shows him driving right down the street at South Wind Drive and he pulls up right in front of that house. So, he did target this particular house, we know that for sure.

COLLINS: So, I'm not sure if this is a correct connection to make or not, but does that tell you, at least with the past work you have done in similar cases, if there are such a thing, that he may have, in fact, known this family?

DIXON: Well, it tells us that's a possibility, but somehow, like I say, the suspect went to this particular house. We know that when he drove there -- we don't have the exact time, but when he drove there, he went up to the house; he spent probably 12, 13 minutes at the house when no one was at home. He had time -- if it was just a regular burglary, he had time to commit the burglary at that time, but he walked back out, he sat in his car for probably another 20, 30 minutes, waited for a long time. This little girl, Jennette Tamayo, she came home from school and once she walked into the house, he went back to the house, probably within a minute, minute and a-half of her getting home, he went back up to the house. So, we don't know if he targeted her specifically or what his motivation was, but we do know, like I say, he was targeting this house and really had time to commit a burglary and did not.

COLLINS: In speaking with the family, as I'm sure you have done after the trauma of all this, any idea if they know who this person could possibly be?

DIXON: If they do, they haven't told us and we don't know that they do. But, I -- and it's kind of an extended family, they have relatives in Southern California, they have other relatives in Mexico and so it's -- we're trying to conduct our investigation and contact everyone that is associated with this family, not just relatives, but friends and co-workers and, of course, that's quite an extended group, but again, it does help kind of help narrow our investigation. This is not a random person driving around in South San Jose that just happened to select the house. We know he had already selected this particular house.

COLLINS: All right, very good. We certainly appreciate your information, as much of it as you do have, so far in this case.

Sergeant Steve Dixon with the San Jose Police Department, this morning.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com