A 21-year-old Maple Valley man was arrested Wednesday night after allegedly attempting to kidnap a 5-year-old girl while she played at an apartment complex playground in the 21900 block of S.E. Wax Road. according to information posted to the King County Sheriff’s Office blotter blog.

The girl, according to a post by Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Sgt. Cindi West, “kicked and screamed and was able to escape the grasp” of the suspect when he attempted to grab her.

Maple Valley Police responded to a call around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday when the girl’s mother called police after she came home crying.

“Witnesses told police that the 5-year-old girl and a 4-year-old boy were playing on the swings in the apartment complex playground when the man approached the children,” West wrote. “Witnesses saw the man talk to the children and then pick up the girl off of the swing. That is when the girl kicked, screamed and hit the man until he put her down.”

A bystander grabbed the boy to protect him while another witness confronted the suspect.

The suspect was found not far from the apartments, arrested and booked into the King County Jail for investigation of unlawful imprisonment.