Thanks to a quick-thinking Sterling woman and an alert clerk at a Chantilly hotel, police arrested a Dumfries man Sunday, charging him with crimes ranging from carjacking to abduction. He is Jaanay E. Cabrera-Morel, 22, of 1816 Fort Pulaski Court.
For the woman, the terror began around 1 a.m. in the parking lot of an apartment complex in the 2400 block of Merrybrook Drive in Herndon. In a May 23 affidavit for a search warrant to obtain forensic evidence from Cabrera-Morel's person, Fairfax County police Det. John Kelly of the Criminal Investigations Bureau, presented details of the case.
He wrote that the woman, 40, was near her car with her 3-year-old daughter when Cabrera-Morel approached them and engaged the woman in conversation. "Suddenly, [he allegedly] forced himself into the victim's vehicle and commanded [her] to cooperate or he would cause her and her child harm," wrote Kelly.
Cabrera-Morel then reportedly drove to the Holiday Inn Select hotel at 4335 Chantilly Shopping Center in Chantilly. "During the ride, the suspect told the victim he was going to have sex with her and, if she did not cooperate with his demands, he would" harm her, wrote the detective. Also during the ride, added Kelly, Cabrera-Morel allegedly "kissed the victim on her face and mouth [and] fondled her breast with his hand, under her clothing."
ONCE AT THE HOTEL, wrote Kelly, Cabrera-Morel reportedly forced the woman to use her credit card to pay for a room. However, she was able to alert the hotel clerk that something was amiss — she silently mouthed the words, "help" and "call police." As the man, woman and child went to the room, the clerk called 911 and then called the room to check on the woman.
Police officers rushed to the hotel and tried to make contact with the trio. When the man finally opened the hotel-room door, wrote Kelly, "he was seen forcefully holding the victim, who appeared in distress. [She] was able to escape his grasp and report that she had been abducted."
Police then arrested Cabrera-Morel and, according to Kelly, "during the subsequent interview, the suspect [allegedly] admitted to the abduction with the intent to defile." Besides that crime, police also charged him with abduction, carjacking and possession of cocaine.
He's being held without bond at the Adult Detention Center pending his June 25 court date. Meanwhile, on May 23 at 11:15 a.m., Kelly executed the search warrant, obtaining both forensic evidence and photographs of the suspect.
Abduction with intent to defile is punishable by 20 years to life in prison. Carjacking carries a possible penalty of 15 years behind bars, and the two other offenses are each punishable by 10 years' incarceration.