ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – ***1:26 a.m. Aug. 15 UPDATE***
Alexander Lopez made his first court appearance Saturday, although he was not present in the courtroom.
According to officials, Lopez was unable to attend due to medical reasons.
Lopez is facing five separate charges including grand theft, fleeing, reckless driving, burglary and petit theft.
He is being held without bond at the Orange County Jail.
***8:14 p.m Aug. 14, 2020 UPDATE***
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said an Amber Alert for a missing girl has been canceled after investigators with the Sheriff’s Office said they were made aware she was spotted on video not injured and seemingly safe, shortly before the suspect in the case was arrested in south Orange County.
Deputies said they still don’t know the identity of the girl and they would still like to talk to her to see if she was victimized in any way.
Investigators said she is not in any trouble and would just like to confirm who she is and to confirm she is safe.
UPDATE: The young woman in this video was seen in a video shortly after her interaction with Alexander Lopez (suspect) & appeared to be safe.
— Orange County Sheriff's Office (@OrangeCoSheriff) August 15, 2020
Detectives still would like to talk to her. Anyone with information is asked to call the non-emergency number at: (407) 836-4357 https://t.co/WV4kqNHh3r
***ORIGINAL***
Hours after the Orange County Sheriff’s Office shared video of what they believed was a man abducting a teenage girl at a gas station, the man had been located but the girl remained both missing and unidentified.
The video was recorded Friday morning and according to Corp. Nikki Harper, a clerk at the gas station thought the interaction between the man and the teen was alarming enough to call 911.
Alexander Lopez, 44, was taken into custody around 3 p.m. after a good Samaritan who received the Amber alert spotted the Toyota Rav4 Lopez was in, records show.
After a vehicle pursuit that ended in a crash and a foot chase, deputies said Lopez was taken into custody.
Harper described Lopez as having a “long and violent” criminal history, adding that as of Friday afternoon, he was refusing to cooperate with the investigation or provide information about the teenage girl.
According to court documents, Lopez was in trouble with the law just weeks before Friday’s arrest and had only recently been released from jail.
Records show Lopez has been arrested three times in Orange County alone between 2013 and July 26.
In the most recent arrest, Lopez was witnessed pulling on car door handles and peering inside vehicles parked outside a Bravo supermarket, according to an affidavit.
Deputies said a man who was about to start his shift at the store called 911 and watched as Lopez attempted to enter a van owned by Bravo.
When they arrived on scene, deputies said Lopez ran away from them, even darting into traffic, before he eventually surrendered and was taken into custody on charges of attempted burglary and resisting arrest without violence.
He was granted a release on his own recognizance on Aug. 5.
On Jan. 14, 2015, records show Lopez was arrested on charges of driving on a revoked license and attempting to flee and elude.
An affidavit that could potentially provide details on the circumstances of that arrest was not immediately available.
Multiple psychiatric evaluations were ordered in that case and then in May 2019, Lopez was found incompetent to stand trial.
Records show a status hearing was held on July 27 and at that time, the judge ordered that a competency hearing be set for Dec. 18.
While details about Lopez’s June 2013 arrest on a grand theft charge weren’t provided in online court records, the paper trail related to the case does shine some light on Lopez’s criminal history.
A criminal punishment score sheet lists several prior charges all out of the Bronx borough of New York City in 2010. Those charges are: trespassing, petit theft and possession of a concealed weapon.
Lopez ultimately pleaded no contest in the grand theft case. He was ordered to pay $649.99 in restitution to Aio Wireless, a defunct prepaid wireless service provider.
Harper noted during a news conference Friday that Lopez is also facing a grand theft auto charge out of a different jurisdiction. She said at the time that deputies were still trying to gather more information about Lopez and his criminal history.
Anyone who may have more information about Lopez or the unidentified teenage girl he was seen with in the surveillance footage is asked to call 866-858-7233 or 911 immediately.