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Tampa Woman Says She Contacted Authorities About Pereira In February

Photos from Facebook / Tribune files

Taina Lopez, left, says she contacted authorities three times about Amalia Tabata Pereira, right.

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By VALERIE KALFRIN and SAMARA SODOS

Published: March 27, 2009

Updated: 03/27/2009 04:24 pm

Taina Lopez thought the 2-month-old girl in the Amber Alert resembled her own newborn.

She read how the woman police sought had convinced the baby's mother to hand over the child. The story reminded her of her own outlandish encounter with an acquaintance from church weeks earlier.

"It has to be the same lady," Lopez recalled thinking.

Today, Plant City police credited Lopez with identifying 43-year-old Amalia Tabata Pereiraas the woman who took the infant from a migrant worker and his girlfriend, leading to the baby's safe return.

"She was a key role in our investigation, that's for sure," Plant City police Sgt. David Millich said.

Although glad the infant was unharmed, Lopez said she wonders if the abduction could have been averted had a Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office deputy taken a report from her about her own encounter with Pereira in February.

Lopez said she reported the incident three times – twice before Pereira's arrest – and was rebuffed.

"They didn't write down her name or my name or nothing," Lopez said. "I expect the sheriff's department to be here to make people feel safe. As of right now, I feel like they don't want to listen to me."

Sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said the deputy, who remembered speaking to Lopez by phone and in person, took no report because no crime had been committed.

"She said she knew the woman and they went their separate ways," Carter said.

Husband Thought Kidnapped Baby Was His

Pereira, who also is known as Amalia Segui, lives in Bradenton and is married to Pittsburgh Pirates minor-league player Jose Tabata, 20.

She is charged with three felony offenses: false imprisonment, interference with custody and impersonating a public officer. She is being held at the Orient Road Jail on $750,000 bail.

Tabata read a prepared statement to reporters today, saying that Pereira had "falsified her pregnancy and the eventual birth of a baby girl," indicating that he thought the kidnapped child was his.

Millich said Pereira has made no statement to detectives about passing the child off as her own. She is not cooperating with police.

The Manatee County Sheriff's Office, to whom the woman surrendered Tuesday, referred all questions about the case to Plant City police.

Assistant State Attorney Pam Bondi said Lopez phoned her Thursday to relate her experience in light of Pereira's arrest. Bondi could not discuss the matter further, citing the pending prosecution.

Investigators say Pereira approached Rosa Sirilo-Francisco, the mother of the Plant City baby, at the Plant City Health Department on Monday, claiming to be an immigration official.

Pereira asked the mother to hand over the baby, saying that she would help Sirilo-Francisco and the baby's father from being deported to Mexico. The parents told News Channel 8 they do not have proper documentation to be in the United States.

The couple realized hours later that the woman was a fraud and with a bilingual neighbor reported the abduction to Plant City police. An Amber Alert was issued for the child's return.

Lopez called Plant City police in response to the Amber Alert and related her experience, which also began at a health department office.

Based on her information, detectives assembled a lineup of photos of possible suspects that included Pereira's picture, Millich said. The parents of the abducted baby saw Pereira's picture and identified her as the woman who had taken their little girl.

Women Met Through Church

Unlike the Plant City parents, Lopez is a native of Puerto Rico and a U.S. citizen who first met Pereira through church. "Amy," as she called Pereira, had sent her friendly messages via MySpace congratulating Lopez on her pregnancy and the birth of her daughter, she said.

Sometime last month, Lopez said she received a call purporting to be from the Hillsborough County Health Department to bring her baby to the Sheldon Road office for a checkup 11 a.m. on Feb. 19.

When Lopez arrived at the office that day, she was told there was no appointment. She now thinks Pereira, whom she ran into outside the building, had phoned her pretending to be from the office to lure her there.

That day, Pereira asked her for a ride, Lopez said. Once in Lopez's car, Pereira urged her to drive quickly, saying a man in a pickup nearby was going to shoot Lopez, Lopez said.

Lopez said she was confused but began driving. Pereira told her: "Your husband owes some money. There's a lot of people at your house that are gonna kill you and your baby. … Come with me. I promise I'm gonna help you."

Lopez said she pulled over at a gas station and ordered Pereira out of her car.

"It didn't sound like it was real," Lopez said. "I wasn't going nowhere with my baby."

Lopez said she drove to her sister's house to share what had happened. There, she said, Pereira called to say she meant no harm to Lopez or the child.

Instead, Pereira told her she had been trying to steal Lopez's car "because she owes some money and they was going to pay her $10,000," Lopez said.

Deputy Said No Crime Committed

Lopez called the sheriff's office, asking for a Spanish-speaking deputy because she is not comfortable speaking English. After hearing her story, a deputy told her that there was no crime and nothing the agency could do, she said.

Not satisfied, Lopez said she went to the Citrus Park district office, where she happened to speak with the same deputy, who was working the desk that day. According to her, he said, "She didn't hurt you. She didn't hurt your baby. Just be careful."

She said she returned to the district office this week to file a report about the earlier incident and again was told there was no crime.

Carter, the sheriff's spokeswoman, said she has no way of knowing what Lopez told the deputy because no report was taken.

Had a child reported an odd encounter, deputies would have been more suspicious, Carter said. The fact that Lopez said she wasn't approached by a stranger and that she and her child were unharmed also would have dialed down any urgency.

"It's very difficult for law enforcement because it's 'he said, she said,'" Carter said. "If someone just made a statement and there's no threat to that person, there wouldn't be anything done."

Lopez said she finds that explanation frustrating.

"Just because I knew her from before, that's not an excuse. Maybe they could make a couple of phone calls," she said.

Lopez said she had told Pereira she was going to report her actions. After nothing happened, "I believe she was thinking, 'OK … I can just plan something else now and they will not get me.'"

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800. Reporter Samara Sodos can be reached at (813) 314-5379.

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