An Auburn, California father is being called a hero after he knocked out a man trying to kidnap his three-year-old daughter Sunday night.
Freddie Cantrell said his three-year-old daughter, Aubrie, was playing in a park with her six-year-old sister, mother and stepdad when the girls were approached by a strange man.
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"The guy walked up and started dragging Aubrie and running with her and skipping with her," the six-year-old told KOVR.
The mother called Cantrell, who lives across the street from the park, when she realized somebody was trying to kidnap their daughter. The mother and stepdad took off running toward the suspect while Cantrell approached from the opposite side of the park, KOVR reports.
Cantrell said that as he was rescuing his daughter, the suspect tried to attack him.
“He tried to swing at me with the handcuffs wrapped around his fingers and try to use them as brass knuckles, and that’s when I just took action and I just took him out,” Cantrell said.
Watch KOVR's report below:
Yonel Hernandez-Velasco, 26, was taken into custody for attempted kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon, according to police.
KTXL reports that Hernandez-Velasco was hospitalized for his injuries.
The Placer County Sheriff's Office said that earlier in the evening, Hernandez-Velasco tried to purchase a basketball from a group of boys at the park. When they rejected him, he allegedly showed them the pair of handcuffs and threatened to drag one of them into a nearby pond.
Hernandez-Velasco was booked into the Auburn Jail. His bail is set at $1.2 million.