A father was taking out the trash with his young son. A parent’s nightmare ensued

A stranger grabbed a 2-year-old boy standing beside his father and tried to abduct the boy, but the child got away when his father struggled with the suspect and yelled for help, police said Thursday.

Neighbors reported seeing a red, early 2000s model Dodge pickup driving slowly through the neighborhood earlier that day, but detectives have not determined if the vehicle was used by the suspect.

Officers responded to the attempted abduction shortly before 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the 3900 block of Janrue Court.

A resident told police he was taking trash out to the curb with his son when the man walked up and grabbed the boy.

“The father also grabbed onto his son and started to struggle with the male suspect,” police Sgt. Eric Peters said in a Thursday news release. “The father yelled at neighbors to call police.”

At some point, the suspect let go of the boy and fled on foot between houses and into a nearby creek, police said.

Officers arrived and searched the neighborhood along with other police agencies and a K-9 unit, but they did not locate the suspect.

Domingo Ramirez Jr.: 817-390-7763, @mingoramirezjr.

This story was originally published November 30, 2017 at 3:02 PM with the headline "A father was taking out the trash with his young son. A parent’s nightmare ensued."