Bus driver hailed as hero for spotting Milpitas kidnap victim, 3

A VTA driver, was being hailed as a hero for spotting a man who kidnapped a 3-year-old boy from the Milpitas Public Library last Friday.

A VTA driver, was being hailed as a hero for spotting a man who kidnapped a 3-year-old boy from the Milpitas Public Library last Friday. Photo: Stephanie Wright Hession, Special To The Chronicle Photo: Stephanie Wright Hession, Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Bus driver hailed as hero for spotting Milpitas kidnap victim, 3 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A man who kidnapped a 3-year-old boy from the Milpitas Public Library on Friday was arrested an hour later after an alert bus driver saw the two on his bus, ending a terrifying ordeal, police said.

Tim Watson, a Valley Transit Authority driver, was being hailed as a hero for spotting the boy in the company of Alfonso David Edington, 23, of Pittsburg, authorities said.

“The bus driver is a hero, absolute hero, and I credit the Valley Transit Authority for receiving the information from us, quickly disseminating that to their bus drivers in the field and the bus driver just being alert,” said Milpitas Police Chief Steve Pangelinan.

The incident began at 10:40 a.m. when the boy’s mother realized that her son was missing during a visit to the library at 160 N. Main St. Officers began searching for him in the library but then received a chilling report from a witness: The boy was seen leaving the library with a man in a black hooded sweatshirt, jeans and a backpack, police said.

Watson told reporters he was driving his bus when he realized that a boy and a man on board appeared to match the description of the two involved. So he devised a cover story. He stopped the bus, announced that he was looking for a missing green backpack and casually looked at the boy’s shoes. They were red, just like the ones the missing boy had on, Watson said.

Watson called his dispatcher, who in turn notified the Santa Clara County sheriff’s office. Milpitas police were notified, and soon Watson reported that he was approaching the Fremont BART Station. That got Fremont police involved as well. Officers spotted the bus at 11:40 a.m. and saw Edington getting off the bus with the child in his arms, police said.

An officer had to pry the child away from the suspect, who briefly struggled with police before he was arrested, authorities said.

“Thank the Lord we were able to find the child safely,” Pangelinan said. “All appearances are, the child is unharmed.”

The chief said why the suspect allegedly took the boy was not yet known.

Henry K. Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: hlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @henryklee