PHOENIX — Police say a man and a woman were arrested after they orchestrated a kidnapping at a Phoenix grocery store Monday.
The woman, 25-year-old Cynthia Danielle Gracia, approached a 60-year-old man outside of his car and asked him for money in the Fry's parking lot of 43rd Avenue and McDowell Road, according to the Phoenix Police Department.
Police say while the man was distracted, Garcia's companion Joe Velazquez, 26, entered the man's car and drove off with his 2-year-old granddaughter.
Witnesses followed Velazquez in the stolen vehicle to a nearby neighborhood where he abandoned the car and tried to run away on foot.
Police say the witnesses caught up with Velazquez and held him until officers arrived on scene and arrested him and Garcia.
“I was just driving by and then I seen all these people screaming, that’s when I pulled over,” said Ernaldo Varela.
He says was driving home after picking up his wife from work when he saw the commotion on the side of the road and jumped out to help.
“I instantly snapped! And, you know, I ran after [the supect]. When I hear he was trying to take a baby, I could not let him get away,” added Varela.
The 2-year-old girl was found in the car with no injuries.
The duo was booked into jail and are facing kidnapping and assault charges, according to police.
“He managed to pull out his knife out of his pocket. He swung at me a couple times, missed, finally he got my finger, that’s when I let go,” Varela said.