Arrest Made in SJ Amber Alert Kidnapping Case

A San Jose woman is under arrest in connection with the kidnapping of an 11-month old girl who was sitting in a car when it was stolen.

Karla Hernandez, 30, was arrested in San Jose in connection with the March 25th incident on suspicion of kidnapping, child endangerment, vehicle theft, possession of drugs and being under the influence of drugs, according to police spokesman Officer Albert Morales.

Hernandez was identified as a suspect after police released a sketch the day after the alleged kidnapping, but Morales said witnesses and physical evidence also tied her to the crime.

You can see the similarities between the mug shot and the suspect sketch in the two photos at the top of this article.

The child, Gabriella Quintero, was taken at about 6:30 a.m. after her mother briefly left her unattended in a 2006 Jeep Liberty outside their home in the 2300 block of Amador Court in East San Jose, police said.

The mother, Graciella Quintero, had been warming up the vehicle with the baby inside. She left momentarily to close her garage door, leaving the key in the ignition, and when she came back she saw her car being driven away with the infant inside, police said.

It is not clear whether the person who took the car knew there was a baby in the backseat.

The girl was found by police unharmed inside the abandoned Jeep at 11:22 a.m. about 4 miles to the south, in the 400 block of Amargosa Court in San Jose. The suspect sketch showed a woman the mother had seen standing near her car just before it was taken.

Anyone with information about this case is urged to contact Detective Enrique Garcia or Detective Alex Nguyen of the San Jose Police Department's Robbery Unit at (408) 277-4166. Persons wishing to remain anonymous can call the Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at (408) 947-STOP (7867), or may visit: http://svcrimestoppers.org/, and may be eligible for a reward.