A 29-year-old Modesto man was arrested by Ceres Police after he unsuccessfully attempted to kidnap a child at the Ceres Walmart on Sunday afternoon.

At 1:39 p.m., Officer Eric Souza was in the Walmart parking lot when he was flagged down by the loss prevention manager who reported that a man, later identified as Raman Kumar, 29, of Modesto, had just attempted kidnap a child inside the store. He had fled the store without the child. 

The child’s mother told police that she was waiting in line to get in the store with her three children, aged 3, 4 and 8. As they had entered the store, the mother heard her eight-year-old yelling, “Why you taking my brother? Let my brother go!” The mother spun around and saw Kumar holding her three-year-old son off of the ground. The eight-year-old began wrestling his brother away from the suspect who was spooked off.

Walmart’s loss prevention manager supplied still photos from the security video one of which showed Kumar’s face. Officer Souza recognized him from numerous prior contacts. 

As Officer Souza was interviewing the mother, a Walmart loss prevention agent radioed that Kumar was seen running across Mitchell Road toward Food-4-Less. Officer Souza quickly drove across the street where he detained Kumar in the parking lot. 

Kumar was positively identified by witnesses. He was arrested and refused to answer questions. He was booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center for kidnapping and probation violations.