Man tried to kidnap 8-year-old girl at west Phoenix apartment parking lot, police say

8-year-old safe after attempted kidnapping in the Maryvale area

PHOENIX - Families in the Maryvale area are on high alert after an attempted kidnapping in broad daylight. Police say a man tried to grab a little girl as her terrified mother was watching.

Oscar Ramirez Estrella, 25, was arrested after police say he tried to force the 8-year-old girl out of her mother's vehicle.

Thankfully, the girl was not harmed, but the brazen attempt has parents in Maryvale on edge.

When the mother and her 8-year-old daughter arrived at home during the afternoon hours of March 29, they were pulling into their parking spot in their complex near 70th Avenue and Indian School Road.

According to court documents, Estrella approached their car, and opened the rear passenger door, trying to grab the child. A neighbor startled Estrella in the process, and he ran from the scene, but was chased down and held until police arrived.

"It's so close to home. They always say you don't think it will happen to you," said Elizabeth Velasquez, a parent.

Velasquez says she's more vigilant because of this incident and more suspicious of strange people in her neighborhood. She says a scary incident happened this week while her kids were playing outside.

"They come running inside and there was a man walking."

She says neither she nor her kids recognized the man walking around their culdesac.

"You never know, they can be gone so quick. It's really scary."

According to police, the attempted kidnapping suspect lived in the Maryvale area and that he was walking around, asking people for gas money. Police say Estrella told officers that he was ordered by biblical scriptures to take the car that the little girl was in.

"It's scary. I'm glad that mom yelled.. it's so close to this area," said Velasquez.

Estrella is accused of kidnapping and robbery. His bond was set at $25,000.

Phoenix man accused of attempted kidnapping of 8-year-old girl

Oscar Ramirez Estrella, 25, reportedly tried to pull the little girl out of her mother's car while she was parking at their apartment complex near 71st Avenue and Indian School on March 29.