Abduction video is reminder of 7-year-old case

Five days after someone grabbed a girl on her way home from school, fellow Bayshore High students continued to take a popular short cut.

But today female students were walking in pairs.

"I can see who is there," said Victor Taylor about his home security video from last Thursday that shows a 12-year-old girl on her way home followed by a man law enforcement officials say tried to abduct her.

The suspect took off when the girl told him people were watching him.

"It (video) can lead you back to the scene to find additional evidence," said Sarasota Sheriff's Office Capt. Jeff Bell.

He knows the importance of surveillance video, especially when the images involve sex crimes.

Bell played a lead role in the arrest of Joseph Smith for the assault and abduction of Sarasota middle-schooler Carlie Brucia seven years ago this month.

On Feb. 1, 2004, surveillance video from cameras posted outside Evie's Car Wash on Bee Ridge Road recorded Smith's car circling the business then Smith grabbing Brucia by the arm. Deputies discovered her body a few days later.

"And that video really gave us our first blunt observation that although its very seldom that there's a complete random stranger involved in an abduction like that, in particular this case, that's exactly what it was," Bell said.

Bell said video also helps engage the community by delivering a kind of visual reality check. "That won't happen with a report, with a hard copy of an incident report. It just won't happen."

Taylor said he installed the security camera that captured Thursday's attempted abduction last year. The video has put a predator in the crosshairs of detectives and parents on high alert.

"I wish he had walked up the driveway and we'd have seen him better," Taylor said.

The Manatee County Sheriff's Office believes the same man may have raped a young girl last month and also may be responsible for another attempted assault in November. There is a $10,000 reward in the case.

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