A plain-clothed police officer at Springfield Mall observed and promptly charged a 40-year-old man for using his cell phone to take pictures of two high school cheerleaders Tuesday afternoon, Fairfax County police said.
Dawit Abede of Alexandria was charged with unlawfully photographing a person under 18 years old after he was spotted by the undercover officer walking behind the teenage cheerleaders and taking pictures up their skirts, police said.
The girls noticed Abede and yelled at him as he walked away from the food court.
Springfield Mall management recently provided county police with storefront space in the mall. Officers have been assigned to the mall since 1996 and other shopping centers across the county since the 1980s, police said.
Anyone with information regarding Abede is asked to call 703-691-2131.
