Prosecutors Say California Kidnapping Suspects Tried to Take Baby on 3 Previous Occasions

Brandon Cuellar Brandon Cuellar Kidnapping Case Child Protective Services Jose Roman Portillo Yesenia Guadalupe Ramirez

By Joel Brussels , Parent Herald May 14, 08:13 pm

Photo: (Photo : FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

Prosecutors announced on Thursday, May 12, that the two suspects charged with kidnapping a 3-month-old baby last month had tried multiple times to take the young boy, including one while posing as a worker with the Child Protective Services.

The infant, Brandon Cuellar, was found alive on April 26, a day after Jose Roman Portillo and Yesenia Guadalupe Ramirez allegedly kidnapped him from his family's apartment located north of San Jose, according to a report by NBC News.

Police said that Ramirez, a family friend, had taken the child and the child's grandmother shopping at Walmart and then brought them back home. The grandmother said she took Cuellar inside and then went back out to the car to unload groceries. Authorities said that Portillo, who was carrying a baby car seat then, went inside the apartment and took the child while the grandmother was outside.

Additional kidnapping charges filed against Portillo and Ramirez

Portillo and Ramirez were arraigned last month on kidnapping and other related felonies, but the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office said on Thursday that additional counts of kidnapping were added after an investigation found that the pair tried to take the baby on three other occasions but they were unsuccessful.

One alleged attempt, according to prosecutors, happened about a month-and-a-half before Cuellar's April 25 kidnapping. Prosecutors revealed that Portillo showed up at the family's apartment during that kidnapping attempt and said he was a worker with Child Protective Services (CPS).

The family at the time thought the incident was odd and called CPS. The district attorney's office said in a news release that the family was informed that a worker was not sent out to their home. Prosecutors said Portillo eventually left after the family did not give the baby to him. KTVU reported that Ramirez was also at the home during this incident.

Pair made two kidnapping attempts at Walmart

Prosecutors said that in the second attempt, Ramirez and Portillo tried to kidnap the baby at a Walmart store on March 28. The pair failed, though, as they were unable to switch shopping carts in an effort for Portillo to leave the store with Cuellar.

The pair's third attempt happened on the morning of the kidnapping while Ramirez was with the baby and the baby's grandmother at Walmart. According to prosecutors, Portillo and Ramirez planned to take the baby while they were at the store but the pair was unable to distract Cuellar's grandmother.

District Attorney Jeff Rosen issued a statement, saying that the case and the details that have emerged surrounding Cuellar's kidnapping were "troubling." Rosen said that there are few things more terrifying than someone stealing a child, as if they are a car or a wallet.

He added that his office is determined to prosecute those responsible to the fullest extent of the law. A statement of facts alleged that Portillo and Ramirez stocked up on baby clothing, formula, and diapers, despite not having any infants with them, according to Oxygen.