COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. -- Police arrested a man after his encounter with a girl at the Target store on Southpark Boulevard in Colonial Heights.
The 12-year-old girl was inside the store with her family Thursday afternoon when she told police a man approached her with an odd question.
The man, later identified as 22-year-old Cedrick Jamir Chavis, asked the girl whether she remembered him from high school.
"[The girl] reported to us that she did not feel free to get away from this individual, at that point she was scared and fled," Colonial Heights Police Captain William Anspach said.
The child was able to get away and found an adult.
Eventually the child's father, an off-duty police officer, arrived and asked Chavis to stay in the store until police arrived.
Chavis did not want to stay and a confrontation ensued between Chavis and the off-duty officer.
Chavis eventually ran out of the store, got on a bicycle, and rode off.
During the confrontation though, Chavis dropped his phone.
A police bloodhound was able to pick up a scent off the phone and helped officers locate Chavis in a nearby store.
Chavis was arrested and charged with crimes that included attempted abduction, assault on a law enforcement officer, and possession of marijuana.
Further investigation revealed Chavis was out on bond after a May 12 strong-armed robbery arrest that occurred outside a nearby Walmart.
Given the nature of the Target incident, police wanted to get Chavis' photo out into the public.
"We want to make sure there's no other potential victims out there that may have been approached by this individual, or have seen him doing any other illegal activity," Anspach said.
The child, police said, was never touched in the incident.
Anyone with information was asked to call Colonial Heights Police Department at 804-520-9300.
