New police footage shows officers arresting a man who they said was caught on camera trying to abduct a young child inside a Miami Beach CVS back in February.
The footage obtained by NBC Miami on Wednesday also shows officers speaking with the child's father and a witness who helped police track down the suspect after the shocking crime.
The frightening incident happened back on Feb. 8 at a CVS at 7400 Collins Avenue.
According to police, the 4-year-old child and his parents were leaving the pharmacy when a man — later identified as 26-year-old Nicolas Metternich Sternaman — violently grabbed the boy's neck from behind.
We've got the news you need to know to start your day. Sign up for the First & 4Most morning newsletter — delivered to your inbox daily. >Sign up here.
The child's father immediately grabbed Sternaman, and the two got into a brief struggle before Sternaman ran from the store, police said.
Surveillance video from inside the store captured the encounter, which happened in a matter of seconds.
One of the body-worn police camera videos obtained Wednesday shows officers arresting Sternaman shortly after the incident.
Another video shows detectives speaking with a witness, a man visiting Miami Beach from Tampa, who said he was in the CVS when the incident happened. He said he ran after the suspect and called 911, leading officers to him.
U.S. & World
The day's top national and international news.
"I have five kids so this is like a, you know, I just felt his pain, like everybody was just looking around like bro, this guy's about to get away, so I just ran him down," the man tells the detectives. "This is crazy man, broad daylight, trying to snatch the, just like that, out of nowhere."
"This guy, he's on drugs or something, gotta be," the man later adds.
A second bodycam video shows an officer arriving at the scene after Sternaman was taken into custody. The officer speaks in Spanish with the shocked father of the child, who described what happened.
"He grabbed him by the neck, if I'm not behind him, he would have killed him," the father told the officer.
The officer is also heard discussing the incident with other officers.
"Strangest thing I ever heard," one officer says in the footage.
They also discuss the arrest of Sternaman.
"Don't even question him…we shook him good, right? Nothing on him? We shook him, you're sure, we patted him down really good? There was nothing on him, no IDs, nothing?" one officer asks.
Sternaman was later booked into jail on kidnapping and battery charges and remains held without bond.
The child's family told NBC Miami they had just arrived from Cuba and were terrified by what happened.
