The father of a young boy who was nearly kidnapped at a Florida pharmacy fears his son might have been killed if he hadn’t fought off the creeps during the disturbing incident.
Around 11:55 a.m. on February 8, Hassan Rodriguez was leaving the Miami Beach Pharmacy on Collins Avenue with his 4-year-old son and wife when the suspect, Nicholas Starnaman, entered the store.
In body camera footage released Thursday, the father allegedly told the officer, “He grabbed me by the neck. If I wasn’t behind him, I would have killed him.” to NBC Miami.
The frightened family had just arrived in the area from Cuba.
Stirnaman, 26, allegedly walked past the boy’s mother, then bent forward and grabbed the toddler by the neck, then turned his back on Rodriguez and attempted to kidnap her.
Surveillance video from inside the store shows the quick-thinking father leaping at the stranger, pulling his child from the kidnapper’s grasp and falling to the ground.
The two struggled for several seconds through the door while Rodriguez ripped Sternaman’s jacket off.
When Mr. Stirnaman escaped from his father’s grasp, the two had a brief confrontation before the creepy man burst out the door and fled the store.
The alleged kidnapper didn’t get far as both Rodriguez and another shopper chased him.
Another shopper, Deven Surajpal, called 911, which helped police track down Stirnaman. According to WSVN.
Police arrived just minutes after the attempted kidnapping and quickly took Stirnaman into custody.
While some officers responded to the suspect, another officer went to talk to the distraught father, who was vividly remembering what had happened moments before.
The child and mother were placed in a police car for protection as police searched for Stirnaman.
Police officers at the scene were shocked to hear the details of the incident.
“There was a small child, a four-year-old, walking – he was a tourist – walking out with his family behind him, and they just came up and grabbed him by the head and tried to abduct him,” the officer said. can be heard saying. According to the outlet.
“That’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard,” one officer said, while another suggested how to deal with Stirnaman.
“Don’t even ask him questions… We’ve shaken him up a lot, haven’t we? Nothing on him? We’ve shaken him up, sure, we’ve shaken him up a lot, haven’t we? Did you give him a good pat? He wasn’t wearing anything, he didn’t have any identification, he didn’t have anything?” one officer asks.
Surajpal told police officers that he suspected the man was using drugs.
“‘Brother! This guy is trying to escape!’ So I just cornered him,” Surajpal told WSVN. “I saw him at the store, so we started running together.”
“This man is a crazy man, trying to snatch victims out of nowhere in broad daylight!” said the Good Samaritan.
“I can’t let him escape like that!” Abduction? Oh my god! What if he was having a baby? What was happening then? ”
Stirnaman denied his identity and claimed to be homeless before being placed in the back seat of a police car.
Since his arrest, Stirnaman has been in jail awaiting trial on felony charges of attempted kidnapping and misdemeanor assault.
On Tuesday, he appeared in court for a hearing on whether he is mentally fit to stand trial.
“You are presumed to have the ability to move forward,” Miami-Dade Circuit Judge David H. Young said.
Stirnaman is scheduled to next appear in court on May 31, according to court records.
