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Provincial police are investigating an attempted kidnapping in St-Constant, on the South Shore, where a man unsuccessfully tried to take off with a 2-year-old girl who was walking with her mother.

According to the Régie intermunicipale de police Roussillon, around 4 p.m. on Wednesday, a cyclist approached the child and her mother, lifted the girl up on his shoulder and tried to ride away.

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The mother screamed and it caught the attention of a man walking across the street, who “physically forced” the cyclist to let go of the girl and took her away from him.

The suspect was able to get away on his bike, and the mother, in a state of shock, immediately returned home.

It all happened near Levasseur Park in St-Constant, at the corner of Lausanne and Levasseur streets.

The motive is unknown, police said.

The Sûreté du Québec took over the case on Friday.

The suspect was described as a thick man in his mid-30s with a large gut and tan. He was bald and had a long beard, and was wearing an orange sweater, pants and sneakers on Wednesday.

The SQ was at the park on Friday, looking for any witnesses and speaking with locals to try to piece together any information on the man.