Fairfax County police have arrested a man who allegedly stole a vehicle and tried to abduct a toddler at Fair Oaks Mall.
Officers were called to the 11700 block of Fair Oaks Shopping Center at 11:43 a.m. last Thursday (July 18) for a report of an abduction, the Fairfax County Police Department says.
“A young girl was near an indoor play area when a man picked the toddler up and walked away,” the FCPD said in a press release. “The man made it to the second level of the mall when one of the girl’s parents intervened. The parent got her back unharmed.”
The man and family were not previously known to each other, an FCPD spokesperson says.
Though the man left before they arrived, patrol officers collaborated with Criminal Investigations Division detectives and the department’s Real Time Crime Center to identify 26-year-old Andres Caceres Jaldin as the alleged suspect, per the release.
According to the FCPD, detectives determined that Caceres Jaldin was staying at the Extended Stay America hotel in Chantilly. While they were heading to the hotel, a nearby autobody repair shop reported that a vehicle had been stolen earlier that morning.
“Detectives reviewed surveillance and determined Caceres Jaldin stole the car prior to the abduction around 10 a.m.,” the FCPD said. “The vehicle was captured on video surveillance at the mall and found by detectives in the parking lot of the hotel.
Caceres Jaldin was taken into custody upon exiting his hotel room, police say.
He is facing charges of abduction of a minor and auto theft. After an arraignment today (Monday), he remains in custody at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center without bond.
A preliminary hearing on the auto theft charge is scheduled for Oct. 20 at Fairfax County General District Court. The county’s Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court will hold a preliminary hearing on the abduction charge on Aug. 21.
Launched in April 2024, the FCPD’s Real Time Crime Center serves as a central hub for monitoring the department’s various technology and data systems, including live surveillance and body camera camera feeds as well as license plate readers. Staffed around the clock, the center is the first of its kind in Northern Virginia.
