CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) — 19-year-old Esteban Santillan confessed to officers that he stole $40 from a children’s lemonade stand in Chesapeake, according to court documents.
“Santillan confessed to the incident and was positively identified as the male in the video surveillance footage,” read court documents obtained by 10 On Your Side.
The court documents are for the felony charge Santillan currently faces, stealing U.S. currency valued at $5.00 or more from a person (Virginia Code 18.2-95). He was initially charged with petit larceny, a misdemeanor.
The story of the brazen theft went viral August 14 when a man, who police say is Santillan, stole a jar containing $40 from siblings Rebecca and Josh Caldwell. The two, 10 and 8 years old, respectively, had set up their lemonade stand in front of their home on Bells Mills Road.
10 days after the theft, the siblings opened a second lemonade stand and received an outpouring of support from the community. They ended up raising $6,200.
They plan to use the proceeds to support their sister’s mission trip, along with a four-wheeler for Rebecca and a dirt bike for Josh.
Court documents also revealed Santillan has only lived with his brother in Hampton Roads for about a year and a half. The rest of his family is in Connecticut, where his social media pages show he went to high school.
Santillan’s social media pages also show he was currently a student at Tidewater Community College, which has a campus near the kids’ home on Bells Mill Road. Santillan listed a current address about two miles from that neighborhood.
Santillan is expected back in court Oct. 8.