The man suspected of carjacking a van in Virginia Beach with a child inside has been captured and is being held in Syracuse. N.Y.

Matthew R. Nash, a 24-year-old Virginia Beach resident, was arrested around 4:30 a.m. in Syracuse and is being held without bail at the Onondoga County Justice Center. The search for Nash involved a vehicle pursuit and a helicopter search.

John D’Eredita, spokesman for the Onodaga County Sheriff’s Department, said Nash was arraigned this morning on local charges pertaining to the pursuit last night. He said Nash would have another hearing tomorrow morning regarding extradition to Virginia, where he faces charges of carjacking and abduction.

Nash is suspected of carjacking a minivan from a woman as she prepared to pump gas at at 7-Eleven on Witchduck Road on Wednesday morning. A 1½-year-old girl, Naomi Hilel, was in the van at the time. The girl was reunited with her parents at a Newport News hotel, where she was apparently left by the carjacker. The girl’s family was visiting the area from their home in Florida.

Margie Long, a spokeswoman for Virginia Beach police, said Nash has family in the Syracuse area and detectives alerted police in that city.

D’Eredita said Nash was spotted in the stolen van around 10:30 p.m. on an interstate highway near Syracuse. Police initially began pursuing him in the rural suburb of Lafayette but called off the pursuit when excessive speed and Nash’s reckeless driving made it unsafe, D’Eredita said. Officers found the van, unharmed and abandoned, in the suburb of Otisco, at which point officers from several local agencies began searching for him.

A police helicopter crew sptted Nash on the ground in a wooded area, and he was taken into custody around 4:30 a.m.

(Source: LSN / 3-On-The-Go)