Shaken father reveals how his instincts kicked when he bundled 'kidnapper' to the ground after he tried to snatch his son, 4, from in front of him as cops arrest man, 26

A father whose four-year-old son was nearly abducted in broad daylight at a drug store in Miami feared the attempted kidnapper 'would have killed him' if he had not fought him off.

Suspected kidnapper Nicolas Sternaman tried to brazenly snatch the little boy as he exited the CVS with his parents around 11.55am on February 8.

As the child walked through the exit, closely following his mother, Sternaman allegedly bent over and made a grab for the little boy - prompting his father Hassan Rodriguez to launch at the attacker. 

He bravely grabbed Sternaman, 26, and wrestled him away from the boy as his mother pulled her child to safety. 

'He grabbed him by the neck, if I'm not behind him, he would have killed him,' Rodriguez told police after the incident, new body camera footage obtained by NBC 6 revealed.

Miami Beach Police quickly arrested Sternaman three blocks from the CVS. He was subsequently charged with kidnapping and battery, and remains jailed without bond.

Rodriguez and his family recently moved from Cuba to Florida and had only been in the country about a month when the attempted abduction occurred.

Sternaman, after walking past Rodriguez's wife, allegedly hunched over and grabbed the four-year-old by his neck.

A full-on brawl broke out between the alleged kidnapper and the father, who yanked the man's coat off at one point and even slammed him into the store's glass.

The fight ended with Sternaman strolling out of the CVS as the boy's mother clutched her shaken-up son.

The alleged kidnapper bolted out of store, but Rodriguez and fellow shopper Deven Surajpal chased after him.

Surajpal, a tourist visiting from the Tampa area, called 911 and reportedly helped lead officers to the attempted abductor. 

'I just ran him down,' Surajpal told detectives, according to the newly released body camera footage. 'This is crazy man, broad daylight, trying to snatch the, just like that, out of nowhere.'

The witness, who told officers he had five children of his own, said that he rushed to help Rodriguez because he 'just felt his pain' and didn't want Sternaman to get away.

Meanwhile, the Rodriguez family say they were left terrified by what happened.

'It's very terrifying that it happens actually at day, in a store where people are around,' the boy's mother Vanessa Selk told WPLG after the incident as she clutched her traumatized child.

'Be aware of your child every second because in one second they can be taken away,' Rodriguez added. 

Sternaman was arrested and reportedly refused to explain to police why he had allegedly tried to snatch the child.

He has since been charged with kidnapping and battery and booked into jail. 

Officers, in another body camera video, are heard discussing his arrest with one describing the incident as the 'strangest thing I ever heard'.

Another said: 'Don't even question him…we shook him good, right? Nothing on him? We shook him, you're sure, we patted him down really good? There was nothing on him, no IDs, nothing?'

Sternaman has been arrested before for petty theft in Miami Beach back in July, an incident for which he is still awaiting trial.