Would-Be Baby Snatcher No Match for Brave Nanny

'I thought he was going to take it'
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted May 18, 2016 12:45 PM CDT
Would-Be Baby-Snatcher No Match for Brave Nanny
Edgar Valdez   (San Bernardino Police Department)

A dedicated babysitter fought off a man who was allegedly trying to take a 4-month-old baby away from her Tuesday morning in San Bernardino, Calif., the Los Angeles Times reports. According to CBS Los Angeles, Carmen Perez had just put baby Chloe into her stroller when a man started hustling toward them. "He went just straight to me like he wants to get the baby or something," Perez says. "I thought he was going to take it or do something to us.” She ran screaming toward a nearby business, but authorities say the man—later identified as 35-year-old Edgar Valdez—caught up with her and tried to take the stroller.

Perez refused to let go of the stroller, even after being pushed to the ground, and Valdez ran off. A number of bystanders followed Valdez behind a building, where he was allegedly changing clothes to fool police. A security guard at a nearby marijuana shop handcuffed Valdez until officers arrived. “We can’t have men like this going around taking people’s kids," the security guard tells CBS. Valdez was arrested, and Perez and Chloe were taken to the hospital with bruises and cuts. (More kidnapping stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X