MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Miami-Dade prosecutors filed a felony case on Friday against Nicolas Sternaman, who stands accused of trying to abduct a 4-year-old boy on Thursday in Miami Beach, records show.
Sternaman, 26, who is about 6 feet tall and weighs about 180 pounds, remained at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on Friday night, according to county inmate records.
Correctional officers booked him at about 8:50 p.m., on Thursday.
Sternaman walked into CVS Pharmacy and quickly turned to bend down and grab the boy by the neck before lifting him off the ground, according to the arrest report.
Surveillance video shows the boy’s father quickly jump into action at the CVS on the corner of Collins Avenue and 74 Street in the city’s North Beach neighborhood, according to police.
The boy’s father pounced on Sternaman and grabbed him until he let go of the boy, according to the arrest report. The boy fell on his back, but he wasn’t injured. Sternaman ran away leaving his jacket behind.
Police officers reported arresting him along Harding Avenue near 71st Street. He is facing charges of battery and aggravated child abuse.
Sternaman bond for the battery, a misdemeanor charge, was $1,000. A judge had yet to set his bond for the felony charge of aggravated child abuse for kidnapping a child under 13.
Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge David Young was set to preside over the case.
Miami Beach police officers had arrested Sternaman for petit theft on Jan. 3 and he was released on a $150 bond, according to Miami-Dade County court records. His status hearing was at 8:30 a.m., on Thursday and his trial for the pending misdemeanor case was April 1.
Detectives were asking anyone with information about the case to call Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.