A man faces attempted kidnapping charges after allegedly trying to snatch another man’s baby out of a stroller while armed with a knife.
Washington County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the Walmart store in Cornelius, located at 220 N. Adair St., around 7:45 p.m. on December 21 following reports of the attempted kidnapping.
According to court documents, the baby’s father, Gaspar Pedro-Lucas, fought off the stranger during the confrontation before deputies arrived. During the struggle, the stranger pulled out a knife but dropped it, deputies say.
The suspect, later identified by prosecutors as 37-year-old Denis O. Villalobos of Cornelius, fled the scene in a white Jeep. However, bystanders remembered the vehicle’s license plate number. Officers were able to link the car to Villalobos and arrested him just a few blocks from the store.
Deputies report that the father suffered minor injuries during the altercation, but his eight-month-old daughter was unharmed.
Villalobos remains in the Washington County jail after Judge Oscar Garcia ordered on Wednesday that he be held without bail.
Records show that Villalobos was previously cited for harassment in Washington County on November 26; however, that case was dropped. He was also sentenced to two years of probation in a trespassing case on December 9.
Villalobos’s defense attorney has declined to comment.
https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2026/01/man-with-knife-attempts-to-kidnap-8-month-old-baby-at-cornelius-walmart-deputies-say.html