Police: Man caught on camera snatching 3-year-old walking with grandmother

Police officers in New York have arrested a man they said tried to abduct a girl who was walking with her grandmother and siblings Monday afternoon.

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The alleged attempted abduction happened around 1:15 p.m. Monday in the Bronx when a man wrapped in a blanket tried to run off with a 3-year-old girl, WPIX reported.

The grandmother, who was not identified, tried to chase the man down, but he got away. He did, however, let the child go after bystanders tried to chase him down, witnesses told WCBS.

“A couple of people went after him and he let the girl go,” Fermin Bracero told WCBS. “If it weren’t for us maybe who know(s) what (would have) happen(ed). 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 man got away on a scooter.

Eventually, the man, identified as Santiago Salcedo, 27, was found sleeping in the doorway of a restaurant, WPIX reported.

He is facing kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment charges, WCBS reported.

Detectives said Salcedo told them that “the voices in his head” told him to take the girl, WPIX reported.

The girl was not hurt in the incident.

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