A man has been charged with attempted abduction following an alleged attack north of Wellington yesterday afternoon.
The 32-year-old was arrested after a father told police a man lunged at him and tried to snatch his 3-year-old daughter as the pair were walking on Exploration Way, in the Porirua suburb of Whitby.
The arrested man has also been charged with two counts of assault.
The man was due to appear in Porirua District Court this morning but the man, who has interim name suppression, was unable to.
He is facing kidnapping and assault charges and has been remanded without plea until next Tuesday.
Police said yesterday the attack happened when the man attempted to grab the child, and a fight broke out between him and the child's father. No one was injured.
The father told Fairfax yesterday the man had lunged at them.
"I scooped up my daughter and ran into the road and started waving and yelling for a car to stop.
"He chased me and grabbed hold of me while I had my daughter in my arms," the father claimed.
He yelled for help and pushed his daughter away, telling her to run.
"Of course she's only 3, so she tried to run back towards me."
Whitby resident Jo Alderdice told Fairfax she saw two men yelling and swearing outside a house.
"My first thought was just to get the girl."
The child was dropped as she ran towards them and she took her inside, locking the doors and "screaming" for someone to call police.
She claims that a man tried to break down her front door, prompting another neighbour to become involved, Alderdice told Fairfax.
