Horrifying footage shows Andres Jaldin, 26, from Virginia, grabbing a three-year-old girl in the middle of a shopping centre after the toddler wandered off from her parents
A man with a history of severe mental health issues was captured on video abducting a tot from a US mall before her mother swooped in to save her.
The disturbing video shows Andres Caceres Jaldin, 26, on surveillance camera as he snatched the toddler and started walking away after the youngster wandered off from an indoor play area.
Her distraught dad had been watching her at the Fair Oaks Shopping Center in Fair Oaks, Virginia on July 18 when he noticed she’d gone missing. It comes after news a nursery teacher drowned her partner’s four-year-old daughter in sickening attack.
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He called his wife who had been shopping at the JCPenney nearby. She started searching immediately and thankfully, she spotted Jaldin carrying the little one on the store’s second floor.
In court records seen by NBC Washington, the mother confronted him and he handed her over immediately, saying he had simply been helping her find her parents. Jaldin fled the store before getting into a car he’d stolen not long before swiping the girl.
The vehicle was tracked to a hotel in Chantilly, where police seized the suspect. After hauling him into custody, police learned of the alleged kidnapper’s past. He has a violent history of assaulting his family members, according to court records.
In 2024, he was hit with multiple charges of assault, malicious wounding and property damage against his mother, father and brother. While awaiting his day in court, he committed further acts of assault against family members.
As part of the criminal proceedings, he underwent a psychiatric evaluation and was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Before his trial, the charges against him were dropped so he never faced punishment for the alleged crimes.
He has now been charged with abduction of a minor and grand larceny, and is being held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center without bond.
Last month, another grim video showed the moment a seven-year-old boy was kidnapped at gunpoint while his father ran away to safety. Jamal White was riding his bike outside his home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the US. Suddenly, a white Jeep was seen in the footage pulling up and blocking the driveway. Two people then jumped out and grabbed little Jamal as his dad Jamal Sr ran inside the house.
“Hell yeah I ran,” Jamal Sr said, responding to criticism on social media. He added: “I ran im thinking they tryna rob me not take my damn baby.”
WISN reported that an amber alert to inform the public of a missing child was not issued until nearly five hours later. Thankfully, Jamal Jr was found around a day later at a house approximately seven miles from where he was taken.