Caught on Camera: Man takes off with toddler, sister helps save him

SPRAGUE, WA (KTRK) -- Deputies are hoping surveillance camera footage will help them catch a man who attempted to kidnap at 22-month-old child from a park.

The father, Michael Wright, tells KXLY-TV he was at work Sunday when it happened. He says he left little Owen and his two siblings - Brenden, 10, and Delicia, 8 - with their babysitter on Sunday. The three children were playing alone at a park. Sheriff's deputies said a man talked with the children for a few minutes then ripped Michael's son out of the stroller and took off down the street.

"I can't explain the feeling, the anxiety and everything that goes into finding out your child is missing or something has happened to them," Wright said.

Fortunately, witnesses say his brother and sister chased down the suspect. They say the sister's screams hampered the suspect's efforts to get away with Owen. He dropped the child off in a vacant lot.

"I told that little girl, I said, 'Honey, you did exactly what you needed to do. Scream your head off.' That's what saved that baby. Her screaming and us running," said witness Dorothy Giddings, who was working at her antique store downtown.

Deputies tell KXLY they are following up on leads. The video is helping them paint a clear description of the suspect.

Fortunately, the toddler was not injured.

A pair of local teenagers also chased after the man. Giddings said she realized what was happening and sent her teenage grandson and his friend to chase the man.

Authorities said they don't believe the man is a resident of Sprague, a wheat farming town of about 500 people located 40 miles west of Spokane.

"We don't believe him to be a local at this point," Lincoln County Sheriff Wade Magers said. "We'd recognize him if he was local."

Sprague sits along Interstate 90, a major east-west artery. Magers said authorities have no leads in the case.

No vehicle was seen with the suspect, who is described as about 30 years old, 6-foot to 6-foot-2, with a thin build, brown hair and a mustache.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.