A terrified dad went into a blind panic after claiming a woman tried to rip his young son from his arms while yelling 'he's taken my baby'.
NHS worker Jon Baylis says the stranger attempted to abduct his two-year-old son from a shop in Truro, Cornwall.
He says the woman - who he believes is in her late 50s - made out that little Dexter belonged to her as she tried to snatch him before he successfully fended her off.
The father was was calling for help but he says he feels disappointed and let down that staff in Schuh didn't intervene or call the police when he was "obviously" in distress.
CornwallLive have since reported that other parents have also come forward to say they were followed by a woman of the same description over the weekend.
After leaving TK Maxx, Jon said the woman approached them and said "Hello, beautiful looking boy".
The man said he smiled and said hello to her and then noticed she was also in the next shop he went into, but thought nothing of it.
"I noticed her close behind me as I was walking through Truro and started feeling odd. I could see her really close in the reflections in shop windows."
Jon then went into Clarks to look for shoes for Dexter and noticed the woman sitting on stools behind them.
She was holding out her hands to the little boy and asked Jon if she could hold Dexter.
He said: "I said 'sorry, no' and went to leave, alarm bells started to go off then I realised she was in my bubble really close behind me, so I pretended I forgot something and went to the back of the store again. She stopped and followed, I picked up Dex and left store with the woman following close behind."
Jon then went into Schuh where things took an even more sinister turn.
He said: "I headed to the back of the store. As I got there and turned to check and she was right in my face saying 'let me hold him'. I told her 'you need to stay away now and back off, I don't want to hurt you'.
"She then started screaming 'that's my baby, he's taken my baby'.
"I started shouting for help from the public and staff but no one did a thing, they just carried on serving and looking at shoes. This lady came at me three times and I had to push her away, shouting 'stay away, I don't want to hurt you'.
"I was shouting at staff to get this woman away from me, she's trying to take my son but no one did a thing to remove her or to take me and my son to safety out the back of the store. I asked them to call the police but they said they couldn't and I would have to do it."
While keeping the woman at bay and holding Dexter with one hand, Jon had to desperately rummage through his pockets which were full of toys, drinks and his son's hat and gloves to find his phone.
"I've never felt so alone in a packed store which I've shopped in for years. I'm so disappointed in staff and the general public. Once I got my phone out the woman ran out of the store," added Jon.
"Heading back to the multi-storey car park, I was so paranoid and looking over my shoulder every two minutes."
Jon has spoken to the police who told him they were going to look at CCTV coverage.
The woman is described as being in her late 50s or early 60s, of slim build, with blonde/white hair, wearing distinctive blue eyeliner and smartly dressed.
"I just want other parents out there to be careful. If I didn't have him on the reins it could have been a lot worse." Jon added: "I nearly had my two-year-old son abducted from Truro, but got no help from the public or from the staff which is so disgusting. I felt alone in a packed shop."
After posting about the incident on Facebook, Jon was contacted by other parents who say they were approached by the woman in the area.
A mum was shopping with her two-year-old daughter in Marks & Spencer when she had an unsettling encounter with the woman on Sunday.
She hid from her and then found a security guard who escorted the woman out of the shop. A man said a woman fitting the description followed him from M&S to Mountain Warehouse in Truro on Saturday while he was pushing a pram. She only left when he rang his wife and said a "strange woman" was following him.
A Police spokesperson said: "Police were notified shortly before 1pm on Sunday, April 2 of a woman behaving suspiciously in Truro. It was reported that she approached a man and child and had followed and shouted at them. The woman left the area shortly after.
"The local neighbourhood policing team have been informed and are making enquiries in efforts to identify the woman."
Schuh's head office have been approached for comment after the manager of the Truro store said she was unable to say anything about the incident.
