Sheriff: Backyard camp was seen as code violation

MARTINEZ, Calif. (AP) -- The Contra Costa County sheriff says a neighbor reported a backyard encampment at the home of a man suspected of holding a kidnapped girl captive, but the investigating officer dismissed it as a routine code violation.

Sheriff Warren E. Rupf (ROOP) said Friday that the deputy who inspected Phillip Garrido's yard in November 2006 did not know he was a registered sex offender even though the sheriff's department had the information.

Rupf says more suspicion and curiosity on the deputy's part could have uncovered the secret encampment where Jaycee Lee Dugard allegedly was held. He says there are "absolutely no excuses .. we should have had a better result."

Garrido and his wife, Nancy, are being held for investigation of kidnapping and conspiracy in the disappearance of Dugard 18 years ago.