70-year-old grandfather suspected in connection with base jumping incidents in Northern Virginia

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (FOX 5 DC) - Fairfax County Police were searching for thrill-seekers base jumping off private buildings a few years ago and now there's a suspect connected to the case - a 70-year-old grandfather of six.

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But when FOX 5 spoke with him over the phone on Wednesday, he says it wasn't him.

"Everybody keeps referring back to two years ago when people were accusing me of base jumping, when nobody had any proof," says Charles Moeser. "And somebody else sent videos in and said, ‘Yeah, we think that’s Chuck Moeser.’ Well, nobody ever saw my face base jumping or had fingerprints…"

Moeser is referring to a video sent to FOX 5 a few years ago showing a first-person account of someone base jumping from what looked to be the top of a Tysons Corner building.

Base jumping is described as people jumping off an object, such as a high-rise building, and parachute down.

When FOX 5 first reported on this, police were investigating a string of incidents involving base jumping including one where a suspect jumped from the 850-foot Lumen Building on Leesburg Pike.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Dramatic video shows people BASE jumping off buildings in Tysons

At the time, a then 68-year-old Moeser of Sterling was a suspect, but Fairfax County Police tell us there’s a statute of limitations in this case, so no charges came of it. 

However, there have been at least three incidents since. 

The Washington Post, who first reported on Moeser’s Monday arrest, says it was an October incident at the Capital One campus involving trespassing to leap off of a building under construction that was caught on camera and reported to police. Another connection was made to two April 2020 incidents.

"With base jumping, maybe there’s a mechanism to do it safely and legally, I do not know of that because that’s certainly not my area of expertise," says James Curry of the Fairfax County Police. "But if a victim comes forward and expresses a criminal act that occurs, such as trespassing, we will investigate to its entirety."

"If you’re jumping in the city, don’t do it unless you're very experienced because it’s the landing that’s going to kill you," Moeser says.

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Base jumping itself is not illegal, but Moeser is facing three counts of misdemeanor trespassing for the three most recent incidents. A court date is set for Feb. 15.