The San Diego Police Department has arrested a man accused of trying to kidnap two young girls. SDPD reports that 42-year-old Rene Lujan of San Diego was taken into custody after a hit from the Automated License Plate Reader system.

Around 1:30 p.m. on June 18, 2024, a mother was walking with her daughter who was pushing her younger sibling in a stroller on the east side of the mall. A man walked past them and began following them.

Then, he grabbed the six-year-old girl and lifted her off the ground. The man walked with her a couple of feet until she began screaming. The suspect put her down and fled on foot through the mall.

SDPD Eastern Division officers responded to the scene to investigate and obtained a description and license plate for the suspect’s vehicle. The plate was entered into the LPR, License Plate Reader, database. On Thursday afternoon, officers learned that the vehicle was in Downtown San Diego.

Officers found Lujan and his vehicle and stopped him on State Route 94 near Home Avenue. Lujan was promptly taken into custody. SDPD says there was a second attempted kidnapping of a five-year-old girl with similar circumstances at Mission Valley Mall just before 2 p.m. on Thursday.

The suspect in that case matched Lujan’s description. SDPD is working to determine whether the second case is connected to the first.