Startling security video shows a man grabbing a toddler from her grandmother on a street in the Bronx in New York City on Monday.

The man, identified by police as Santiago Salcedo, 27, quickly fled with the child, one of three being shepherded down the street by the grandparent.

Police say onlookers pursued the man, who then left the child and fled.

"Good Samaritans intervened and the male placed the child down before he fled the scene," the New York City Police Department said in a statement. The child was not injured. 

He was later arrested and charged with kidnapping, according to a report by NBC New York.  

"When he grabbed her, I thought it was a joke," Fermin Bracero told the network. "When she [the grandmother] said, 'He's taking my child away,' I reacted and went towards him."

Bracero and Katherine Garcia, who also pursued Salcedo, said the 27-year-old let the child go when he realized he was being chased. He is charged with kidnapping, attempted kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment and endangering the welfare of a child.