Stranger lifts baby from trolley behind mum's back in supermarket
A distraught mother has recalled the chilling moment her baby was snatched from the trolley as she bent down to grab some meat at her local supermarket in South Africa on Sunday.
Daniella Wolff put her eight-month-old daughter in the child seat of the trolley to free up her hands, but in an instant, her daughter was taken.
The mum detailed her traumatic experience on Facebook and shared CCTV footage which shows how it all unfolded.
In the video, the mum is seen turning to face the supermarket fridges while her daughter sits in the trolley.
A supermarket employee wearing red pants and a black jumper approaches the mum and baby from behind.
Unbeknown to Ms Wolff, who was just inches away, the man lifts the child and attempts to walk away with her in his arms.
As Ms Wolff stands to put food in the trolley she realises her baby is gone. She appears to look around frantically before spotting the man.
Mum left 'angry, shocked and hysterical'
The male is allegedly an employee at the SuperSpar store in the city of Alberton, near Johannesburg. Ms Wolff rushed to grab her daughter back.
The panicked mum shouted "where are you taking her?" she said. But the man allegedly laughed it off.
"Within an instant, a stranger is seen in the video taking my daughter," she said in the Facebook post.
"I’m able to grab her from him and say what he is doing with my daughter? Why does he have her? He is smiling and laughing, and I say it isn’t a joke, and it’s not amusing."
Ms Wolff said she was left "angry, shocked and hysterical", particularly when learning of the man's reason for taking her daughter.
"He tells me he walked past the trolley and my daughter’s arms were up, so he picked her up, and I am frozen and confused. Why is he laughing? I tell him it’s not funny," she said.
The video shows the man turn back and approach Ms Wolff once more.
The mother said he tried to "demonstrate" to her what her daughter had been doing.
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Mum's warning to others
“These are our innocent children, our babies! Please please please be careful," she warned on Facebook.
Ms Wolff said she's watched the footage "so many times."
"A few more seconds and who knows what could have happened," she said.
Ms Wolff reported the worker to management before contacting the police.
The matter is being investigated a spokesman for SuperSpar reportedly confirmed to local media.
South African Police warrant officer Gerhad Cornellius confirmed a case of attempted baby snatching was under investigation, but said it was too early to comment further, Seven News reported.
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