Grand Prairie, Texas, mom Victoria Edwards did what any parent would do on a hot day. After taking her kids to the grocery store with her, Victoria helped her 5-year-old son up into the car, then leaned over to start the vehicle and get the cool air flowing throughout. It was only a matter of seconds, but enough time for a stranger to approach her vehicle, and take off with the cart her 2-year-old daughter was strapped into!

Her son called out to her, “Mommy, this man is trying to grab the basket with Madison in it!” Victoria spun on her heels just in time to see an older man, believed to be in his 50s or 60s and with salt-and-pepper hair, flee with her cart and daughter. Victoria claims she was chasing him and screaming at the top of her lungs, “Let my baby go! Allow the basket to go!

You must leave immediately!” The man claimed he was only “trying to say hello” to the toddler while continuing to push the cart out of Victoria’s reach and simultaneously attempting to lift the girl out of her seat. Finally, the unidentified man gave up and dashed into the passenger side of a black pickup truck.

The fact that he wasn’t alone is frightening in and of itself. While Victoria was chasing her baby girl, another suspect could have easily snatched her 5-year-old son from the car. Fortunately, this was not the case. The worst part of her entire experience was that no one in the parking lot attempted to assist her. It’s horrible to think that shoppers just stood there watching as a terrified mother chased after a man, yelling “let my daughter go,” and did nothing.

“Even though you think you are in an ok neighborhood, sick people go everywhere. So, just be aware and, you know, protect your kids at all costs.” The Grand Prairie mother is not alone. Recent reports of attempted kidnapping show some suspects are no longer luring kids to their creepy white van with puppies and candy, but blatantly snatching children from within their parents’ reach.

It happened to a couple in a Philadelphia Dunkin’ Donuts back in April, and again to a woman who merely turned away from her grocery cart to grab an item off the store shelf. Victoria’s son screaming about the man to his mother is the greatest thing that could have happened in this case. Had she been turned away any longer, there’s no telling what may have happened.