Toddler-snatching schizophrenic man had 43 prior charges in Virginia, was released without bail days prior, left mall in stolen car

Andres Caceres Jaldin, 26, was arrested at an Extended Stay hotel in Chantilly, Virginia on July 18 after being caught on camera taking the small girl, only to later be confronted by the girl's mother on the second level of the shopping mall, where the mother was able to get her child back. The suspect has previously been diagnosed with schizophrenia and left the mall in a stolen car, according to police.

Police records detail that Jaldin has been involved in dozens of criminal cases and has been charged with abduction of a minor and grand larceny after grabbing the child in the mall, per Fox 5. He is being held without bond at Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.

The child had been with her father in the children's play area, and the father was attending to the girl's sibling when the incident occurred. Lt. Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, a GOP candidate in the upcoming Virginia gubernatorial race, commented on the incident, saying that he has 43 prior charges against him.

"Imagine taking your toddler to the mall—and a man with 43 priors rips them away from your family. Now imagine the people who let him walk free knew exactly who he was," Earle-Sears said, criticizing local officials for allowing the suspect to roam free after his previous charges.

In a previous case from 2024, Jaldin was charged with multiple counts of assault and battery, malicious wounding, as well as property damage. The victims of the crimes were his father, mother, and brother, per court records. While out on bail, he was again charged with assaulting his family. As part of the case, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Just weeks before he grabbed the child, he was charged with a felony after failing to stop at the scene of a car accident causing injury, and was released on his own recognizance, per ABC7.

The charges against him in relation to attacking his family were later dropped.