Man jailed in Cumming attempted kidnapping case

CUMMING - Cumming police say quick-thinking parents were able to thwart a kidnapping attempt earlier this week.

Detective John Coffman told CBS-Atlanta the incident happened outside of a small grocery store in a strip shopping center right across from the police department on Veterans Parkway.

A man drove up beside a family as they were loading their children into a vehicle and grabbed 4-year-old Lizeth Gutierrez. Coffman said the parents were able to wrestle their daughter away from the suspect.

"It's very unusual to hear of a situation where the family is right there next to the child when something like this happened, but in the case it did," said Coffman.

Coffman told the TV station that officers were able to apprehend 24-year-old Francisco Javier Martinez a short time after the incident.

The child's parents said Lizeth was frightened but otherwise unhurt.

Martinez faces charges of attempted kidnapping, aggravated assault and cruelty to children.