A shaken dad had to fight off a hooded stranger who approached him in the street and tried to grab the pram with his six-month old son inside.
Kyle Howard was walking back from a visit his mum's house with baby Theo when he spotted a man in dark clothing walking in their direction.
The ex-soldier, from Allerton, instantly became wary of the man and kept an eye on him as he moved closer on Mill Lane, Old Swan, between the junctions with Montague Road and St Oswalds Street near the Big Yellow Storage centre.
Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, the 31-year-old said: "He had been in my sights for around 10 seconds, then he said 'give me the pram'. As I went 'no' he has placed his left hand on the pram.
"I struck him on the left side of his cheek and he fell back, but as he fell onto the floor he was able to hold himself up with his arm. He got up and just ran away.
"At that point my only thoughts were about the baby, and checking he was ok. If I was not with Theo I would have chased him, but he ran off in the direction of Montague Road."
Kyle, who reported the incident to Merseyside Police, described the man as wearing scuffed white Reebok Classics trainers, dark jogging type pants and a black coat with a hood.
He said he only briefly glimpsed his face, describing his as a white man with grey stubble, possibly aged around his 40s, who spoke with a Liverpool accent.
He said: "I am trying to play it down, I don't think he wanted the baby. He said 'give me the pram' and prams are expensive, so maybe he was looking for a quick score.
"But anyone who sees a pram with the hood up would think there was a baby inside.
"I don't like violence, I was in the army when I was younger and I was trained to fight but I have never been involved with anything like this before.
"Afterwards my adrenaline was quite spiked, so when the police were asking me questions I was not really making sense, I just wanted to get the baby home. It is scary, it feels like if it happened to me it could happen to anyone."
Kyle, who now manages Planet Vegan Diner on Lark Lane and Veggie Republic in Liverpool City Centre, posted a warning about the incident on Facebook, alongside a picture of his swollen knuckles on the hand used to punch the hooded man.
He said: "A stark reminder of the horrors out there. At 17:25 I was approached by a man (I say this loosely) as I was walking Theo home he asked me for the pram, I replied no and he put his hand on the pram handle to which I’ve balled my fist up and connected with his chin, he’s gone down and ran off.
"I’ve filed a police report etc … but please be careful, some actual horrible people out there, disgusting vile creature. They’ve got cctv footage so hopefully he will be found and dealt with. Just as well me or my family didn’t get to him first."
Merseyside Police said extensive enquiries were ongoing including checking for potential CCTV footage in the area.
The force also described the suspect as having blond curly hair and being around 6ft tall.
Detective Inspector Neil Dillon said: "This incident is every parent’s worst nightmare, and our extensive enquiries are ongoing. If you were in the Edge Lane area, near to the junction with Mill Lane yesterday evening and saw anything or anyone suspicious, or the man described then please come forward.
"Similarly if you were driving down Edge Lane and have dashcam footage then please review it and let us know if you see anything. Information you hold could be vital to our enquiries.
"I’d also like to reassure the community, who will be understandably worried, that we take any reports of this nature extremely seriously. We’ll act on all information provided to find the person responsible.”
Anyone who witnessed the incident or who has any information is asked to contact @MerPolCC on Twitter or ‘Merseyside Police Contact Centre’ on Facebook or call 101 with reference 22000376600.
You can also call Crimestoppers, anonymously on 0800 555 111, or their online form here.
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