Man screams ‘this is my girl’ as he grabs 8-year-old at Orlando airport, cops say

An 8-year-old girl was waiting with her parents at Orlando International Airport in Florida on Saturday when a man attempted to kidnap her, according to police.

Police said Alfredo Sanchez, a 49-year-old Kissimmee man, came up to the girl from behind, picked her up at the waist and tried to leave with her, WFTV reports. As the girl yelled, Sanchez screamed “this is my girl,” according to police.

But bystanders spotted the kidnapping in progress and quickly stepped in, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

Sean Sherman ran over and stopped Sanchez after seeing Sanchez running and holding the girl in his arms, WESH reports.

Then another witness joined in.

“I put him in a choke hold,” said Alexis Vargas, a 63-year-old Orlando man who was waiting at the airport, the Sentinel reports. “I’ve seen it on TV, but I’ve never witnessed anything like that before or seen that in real life.”

Transportation Security Administration agents at the airport yelled over their radios for police officers to come to the scene, Spectrum News reports.

Sanchez was arrested and faces charges of attempted kidnapping, jail records showed.

The girl was unharmed during the attempted kidnapping, but police said she was “obviously traumatized by the suspect,” WFTV reported.

Sanchez is being held in jail in Orange County, according to jail records.

Editor’s note: this story has been updated to identify Sean Sherman as one of the men who helped prevent the child from being taken.

This story was originally published October 15, 2018 at 4:35 PM with the headline "Man screams ‘this is my girl’ as he grabs 8-year-old at Orlando airport, cops say."