Police in Kansas are investigating after a woman says a man walked up to her and her baby while they were in the checkout lane of an Overland Park Wal-Mart Wednesday and started choking the 4-month-old.  A shopper who saw the incident tackled the stranger and restrained him until officers arrived, police say.  The man was taken into custody and the baby was OK, according to police.

The baby’s mother, Quisha Hill, told  WDAF-TV in Kansas City, Missouri, that she always shops at this particular Wal-Mart, and on Wednesday she had stopped in for a few items.  “While I was at the counter-top, speaking with the lady and bagging up my groceries, this random man comes out of nowhere and yanks the car seat out of the cart,” Hill told WDAF.  Hill’s four-month-old daughter, Alyssa, was in the car seat at the time.  “‘I’m taking the baby, I’m stealing her. I’m taking her. Call 911,'” Hill said the man told her.  She said he began choking her baby and she screamed for help. Nearby shoppers jumped in to help and wrestled the man to the ground.  Many Wal-Mart workers came to the mother’s and baby’s aid. The assailant punched an employee before a security guard body-slammed him to the ground, WDAF reported.

According to Hill, the baby turned red for a few moments but was expected to be fine.  Hill believes the man was under the influence and said at one point he took the baby’s car seat and put it over his head, trying to wear it like a hat.

The store’s manager said she was “appalled” by the incident and was cooperating with police.