Teri McKay was driving through Winnipeg’s North End Friday afternoon with her teenage niece and 10-year-old grandson when she saw something that didn’t look right.

“What I had seen was a man holding onto a child while a child was struggling,” McKay told CTV Winnipeg. The boy, she added, was crying and yelling for help.

“So I slowed down my car and my niece, who was in the passenger seat, decided to yell out and told him to let go of the boy… I think it stunned him because he did respond, he said that the boy was on his roof and that he had called the cops."

McKay told the man that she was going to call the police to confirm his story. That’s when the boy broke free and started running. The man gave chase and McKay tried to follow them in her vehicle.

Although she lost sight of the boy, she was able to find the man and call police.

“I didn't want to say or do anything after that,” McKay said. “The amount of force he was using with the child, I didn't know what to expect.”

Winnipeg police say officers conducted an extensive search of the area but were unable to locate the man. The boy, they say, made it home safely and wasn’t hurt.

The boy’s family told CTV Winnipeg that he had become separated from a group of friends, which included his 13-year-old brother. The confrontation, they say, occurred while the boy was on his way home.

The Canadian Centre for Child Protection says that the boy did the right thing by calling out for help.

Police describe the suspect as a balding man in his forties with a medium build. He was wearing reading glasses, a grey shirt with a grey and orange jacket, blue jeans, and white and grey shoes. Police say that anyone with information should call investigators at 204-986-6219 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-TIPS (8477).

With a report from CTV Winnipeg’s Josh Crabb