Local

Woman says man tried to take 2-year-old niece out of yard

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Terrifying moments for a north Charlotte woman, who came face to face and even spoke with a man who she said tried to snatch her 2-year-old niece out of her front yard.
 
The woman asked Channel 9 to not reveal her identity. 
 
She said it happened Sunday evening on Duncan Avenue.
 
Her niece ran after a ball that was sitting in the front yard close to the street. 
 
She said that's when a strange man drove up.
 
"He didn't turn the car off. He just got out the car with the door still open," the woman said. "He gave her the ball but then he tried to pick her up."
 
The woman ran to her niece and picked her up.
 
She noticed a dog barking in the back seat of the man's car.
 
"When I had her in my hands, he was trying to take her out my hands," the woman said. "He was like, 'Come see the dog. Come see the dog.'"
 
The woman told the man to get away. She ran inside the house and called police.
 
Channel 9 told her neighbors in Villa Heights what happened.
 
John Yasenchok said he's always cautious when his 7-year-old brother comes to visit.
 
"He doesn't play in the front by himself; we're always out here," Yasenchok said.
 
"My mom tells me not to play out there in the yard. She's scared that a lot of kidnappers are out there," said 7-year-old Christian Olsen.
 
The woman hopes police track down this man before he strikes again.