A man diagnosed with schizophrenia — who also has a violent past — was seen abducting a 3-year-old girl in a Virginia mall before he was stopped by the tot’s mother, disturbing video shows.
Andres Caceres Jaldin, 26, was captured on surveillance camera snatching the toddler in his arms and walking away with her after she wandered away from an indoor play area at the Fair Oaks Shopping Center on July 18, security footage shared by the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office shows.
Her panicked father had been watching his daughter and called his wife, who was shopping at the JCPenney nearby.
Luckily, she spotted Jaldin carrying the youngster on the second floor of the store and confronted him, according to court records obtained by NBC Washington.
Jaldin handed over the child without incident and claimed he was only trying to help the girl find her parents, according to the criminal complaint.
He then fled the shopping center in a car he had stolen from a local auto shop just before allegedly kidnapping the girl.
Police tracked the vehicle to a hotel in nearby Chantilly, where Jaldin was arrested.
The accused kidnapper has a checkered past with a history of violent assaults on his family members, court records show.
He was charged in 2024 with multiple counts of assault and battery, malicious wounding and property damage.
The victims were his mother, father and brother, according to the complaint.
While he was out on bail awaiting trial, he was again accused of assaulting his family.
He was diagnosed with schizophrenia following a psychiatric evaluation conducted as part of the criminal proceedings, NBC Washington reported.
All the charges involving his family were eventually dropped.
Jaldin was charged with abduction of a minor and grand larceny in the scary mall incident.
He is being held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center without bond.
