News 12 spoke to the father who fought off an alleged kidnapper to save his daughter in the Bronx Wednesday.

Abraham Perez says he and his child were walking to the store from their home around 4 p.m. when his 8-year-old daughter Maria wanted to stop and play in the leaves.

That's when Perez says a man came charging at them, grabbed Maria by her shirt and started dragging her away.

Police identified the alleged kidnapper as 52-year-old Juan Rivera, of Brooklyn.

The child's father told News 12 that there happened to be police officers nearby when Rivera attacked them. The terrified dad was able to get the officers' attention, then together they chased down and caught Rivera. He's now facing charges of kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment and harassment.

Perez says his daughter is traumatized. He adds he doesn't want any other families to go through something like this considering P.S. 62 and a day care are near the area.

Police say this isn’t the first time the suspect has been in trouble. Rivera has a murder charge on his record from 2003 and was on parole.