Fresno police release video of carjacking victim getting cash from ATM

Fresno police have released a surveillance video showing a nanny getting money from an ATM machine while the man who allegedly kidnapped her and a 1-year-old boy watched and waited.

The video is too grainy to identify the culprit, but Police Chief Jerry Dyer said detectives are seeking video from the ATM machine and hope it can provide clues.

The alleged kidnapping and carjacking in northeast Fresno happened Friday when a man approached the nanny outside a home in the area of Ft. Washington Road and Champlain Drive as she was pushing a stroller. She has been staying at the home and caring for the child of a married couple.

The man, a chubby white male in his 40s or older, had been walking in the neighborhood and greeted the nanny, Dyer said.

He asked for water and she gave him a drink of water. He then asked her for $20 and she said she did not have the money.

“She got nervous and began to walk back inside of her house,” Dyer said. “He asked her if anyone was home. She said her husband was inside the bedroom sleeping, and she went inside the house trying to avoid him and he then forced his way into the house through the door.”

Inside the home, he held a knife to her throat, stole property and forced her into her SUV, Dyer said.

He drove the SUV to the Well Fargo ATM at the shopping center at Champlain Drive and Shepherd Avenue. The video shows her getting out of the car and going to the ATM.

She got out of the car with the baby and got $200 from the ATM, Dyer said.

At one point, the suspect can be seen stepping out of the vehicle from the driver’s side but soon gets back in.

She can be seen walking to the driver’s side. She the walks away and he drove away, and she can be seen moving in the direction of a store from where police were called.

The man had told her he wanted to go to Los Angeles, but police doubt that was his plan, Dyer said.

He drove out of the parking lot and left the SUV parked on a street in a residential neighborhood about 45 minutes later, in the 300 block of West Bluff Street near Woodward Park. Sunday morning, police got a call about the SUV being parked on the street.

Police are reviewing video from the neighborhood in hopes of finding clues, Dyer said. The brazen nature of the kidnapping and carjacking worries police, Dyer said.

“We have a significant number of detectives that are working this case in order to identify this individual and get him off the streets as quickly as possible,” he said. “We are confident that if we don’t get him in custody, he’s going to do something similar again.”

This story was originally published June 26, 2018 at 5:25 PM.