Exclusive Video: Man Attempts To Snatch 3-Year-Old Girl From Grandmother In Bronx Neighborhood
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- There has been an arrest in a frightening attempted abduction in the Bronx.
A man tried to take a little girl who was walking with her grandmother and siblings on Monday, but he then got away. However, he was taken into police custody hours later, CBS2's Jenna DeAngelis reported.
The video is shocking. Fear grips the grandmother and even the little girl's siblings. Thankfully, good Samaritans intervened.
While the suspect initially got away, CBS2 was told police later found him sleeping in the doorway of a nearby business and recognized him from the video.
The surveillance footage shows the grandmother walking on the sidewalk with her three grandchildren near the intersection of East Tremont and Baisley avenues in the Throggs Necks section of the borough at around 1:15 p.m., when the man, wrapped in a blanket, grabs the 3-year-old girl and takes off.
As the grandmother starts chasing him, the other two children appear visibly shaken.
A man who works at a nearby gas station told DeAngelis he was sweeping the sidewalk when the incident happened. He was among the witnesses who jumped into action.
"A couple people went after him and he let the girl go," Fermin Bracero said. "If it weren't for us maybe who know what happen. It's crazy. He just came out of nowhere. Not too sure what he was planning to do, but carrying a blanket, either he's homeless or looking for a kid. That's what I saw. That's what my thinking is."
Police said the suspect, who has been identified as 27-year-old Santiago Salcedo, then tried to get away on a scooter. The witness saw him eventually ditch the scooter and walk off.
The witness DeAngelis spoke to said the grandmother was understandably hysterical, but, thankfully, police said the little girl wasn't hurt.
"She started screaming, the grandmother, 'My little girl! My little girl!' She was hysterical. It was like a movie, but this is real life. It was crazy," Bracero said.
While babysitting her niece and nephew, Riomar Quinones made sure they know the rules.
"Always to stay next to her, especially if we're crossing the street," little Drielyz said.
Many praised the good Samaritans who made sure the little girl was safe.
"I'm actually grateful they jumped in to help because if they didn't Lord knows what would have happened to the kid," Quinones said.
Salcedo was charged with kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, and acting in a manner injurious to a child.