Man tries to kidnap 3-year-old at Gwinnett thrift store

It has to be one of the scariest moments ever for parents of young children. You’re out in a public and your little one is right there beside you.

Then in a second, they’re gone.

That’s exactly what happened to a Gwinnett County family shopping in a thrift store recently, Erika Byfield with Channel 2 Action News reported Tuesday. Wearing his super hero cape, 3-year-old Erik Evans was looking at toys at Park Avenue Thrift off Lawrenceville Highway.

His father, Josh, was nearby, but wasn’t facing the child, he said.

“I had my back turned and then a customer came over to me and asked me if it was my son and I said, ‘yes.’ She said that I needed to go get my child,” Josh Evans told Byfield.

Turns out that dad had turned his back just long enough to allow a man in a bright green shirt to offer the boy cash and pick him up, and it was captured on the store’s surveillance camera. The Good Samaritan likely kept Erik from being kidnapped because she charged after the man.

Lilburn investigators are hoping the man’s picture will help identify him. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Lilburn police.