NEW YORK (WPIX) — New video shows the terrifying moment a stranger snatched a 3-year-old girl off a New York City street as she walked with her grandmother Monday afternoon.
Footage obtained by NewsNation affiliate WPIX shows the man, wrapped in a blanket, walk up to a grandmother and her three grandchildren, then suddenly grab the toddler and run off with her.
Police said it happened around 1:20 p.m. in the Bronx near the Pelham Bay neighborhood.
The man, later identified as Santiago Salcedo, thankfully didn’t make it very far with the child.
Good Samaritans intervened after spotting the man as he ran with the girl, authorities said.
Fermin Bracero said he saw the attempted kidnapper scoop the child up in the blanket. He ran after the man outside a gas station in the area.
“I went towards him ’cause the grandma was screaming, ‘He’s taking my little girl!’ The grandma was nervous. I thought it was a joke, like maybe they’re family, but it wasn’t,” Bracero said.
Salcedo, 27, was initially able to get away, but was later arrested, officials said.
Officers found him a few hours later, sleeping in the doorway of a nearby restaurant, police sources said.
He allegedly told detectives, “the voices in his head” told him to take the girl, according to police sources.
Authorities believe he is homeless.
Salcedo was charged with kidnapping, attempted kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment and endangering the welfare of a child.
Police said the girl was not physically injured, but was taken to an area hospital for an evaluation.
Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782)