A 25-year-old parolee tried to abduct a seven-year-old girl from a Walmart store in Bremen, Georgia, on Wednesday, according to US state police.
Bremen police Chief Keith Pesnell said Thomas A. Woods, of Austell, grabbed the girl and attempted to leave the shop, but he let her go when she fought back.
Brittney Baxter, whose ordeal was caught on surveillance video, said that she tried to kick her abductor and scream while he was holding her.
"I said 'I want to go see what my momma is doing' and he just grab me and pick me up," she said, describing what happened.
"I couldn't believe that somebody would do that to a little kid, so it was very scary," her mother Georgeanne Baxter added.
Police put out an alert with a description of a car.
Woods was later arrested by police about 10 miles (16 kilometres) west in the city of Tallapoosa.
As officers led their suspect away, he denied doing anything wrong.
"I didn't bother nobody, I was never there," Woods said.
Pesnell said Woods faces a charge of attempted kidnapping and further charges are likely.
Woods was out on parole after being convicted of voluntary manslaughter in DeKalb County.
Pesnell said Woods was being held in Haralson County jail and would likely appear before a judge on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Brittney had some words of advice for anyone who experiences the same ordeal.
"I think they should like scream and try to kick as hard as they can and try to get away," she said.
AP