North Philadelphia man waives preliminary hearing in kidnap attempt

Appearing at times confused and despondent, a North Philadelphia man charged with trying to kidnap a 10-year-old girl as she walked with her 2-year-old brother in South Philadelphia on Tuesday waived his right to a preliminary hearing.

"That's the way it is," said Carlos Figueroa-Fagot, 33, speaking through a Spanish-language interpreter, when asked if he understood what he was doing by agreeing to have his case proceed directly to trial.

Handcuffed and in an orange prison jumpsuit, Figueroa-Fagot used that phrase several times in a brief appearance before Family Court Judge James Murray Lynn.

The North Philadelphia man's decision to waive a preliminary hearing meant the 10-year-old girl would not have to testify about the July 17 crime on Lee Street.

The District Attorney's Office agreed in return to drop a count of aggravated indecent assault.

"I think it was a recognition that there was nothing sexual involved," said defense attorney Geoffrey Kilroy.

Even so, Figueroa-Fagot remains charged with crimes that Assistant District Attorney Joseph McGlynn said could mean a prison sentence of up to 82 years.

The judge also agreed with McGlynn's opposition to bail.

"The reality of this is a child he attempted to abduct in broad daylight who was a stranger to him," McGlynn said. "It's not only every parent's worst nightmare, but it's alarming to the city in general."

That afternoon's attempt to snatch the girl as she and her brother walked on Lee Street, near Porter Street, was caught on an outdoor security camera.

The video shows a man following the children in his car as they walk home after buying water ice at a local store. Another view then shows the man approach the children on foot. He grabs the girl, who thrashes about, as her brother screams.

The girl's resistance and the screams made the kidnapper drop the girl and flee but the video, released by police and shown on television and the Internet, led to Figueroa-Fagot's surrender on July 20.

Little new information emerged about Figueroa-Fagot. Kilroy said his office was still investigating. Kilroy said Figueroa-Fagot moved to Philadelphia from Puerto Rico about three years ago and lived with his fiancee.

Figueroa-Fagot had no apparent occupation, Kilroy said, and a "long history" of treatment for mental illness. The judge ordered a psychiatric exam.

McGlynn said Figueroa-Fagot had four "contacts with police" in Puerto Rico including a 2006 larceny conviction that resulted in probation.

According to court records and police, Figueroa-Fagot was arrested last year and charged with unlawful sexual contact with a minor girl relative as well as terroristic threats and a gun count.

Police said the charges were withdrawn after the girl and her mother said they fabricated the story.