The family of a toddler kidnapped at knifepoint by a man from a mobile home park was shaken but relieved the girl was unharmed.
Now safe at home in Agua Dulce, thanks to fast-acting deputies, the 18-month-old girl was embraced by her smiling mother, Crystal Jimenez.
"It makes me want to sleep with them till their 18 ... I don't know," a protective Jimenez said.
The drama happened Monday night when a man in his 40s entered the mobile home, took the girl and threatened the grandparents with a knife while the parents were away on a shopping trip, family members said.
Grandfather Oscar Mendez said he and the kids were on the couch watching TV when the man grabbed the girl and threatened him with the knife.
"When I say, 'Give me the baby, he do like this with a knife," Mendez said, making a slashing motion.
Mendez called 911 and followed the man to a mobile home the next row over.
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"We heard yelling out there, and I thought it was the TV at first," said neighbor Beth Bates.
Arriving sheriff's deputies got the man to come outside, the child was rescued and the man was taken into custody.
The child was unhurt and returned to her family.
The man was not immediately identified.
