Watch: Mom Chases Off Armed Carjacker as Baby Sits in Back

What to Know

• Police are looking for a man who attempted to carjack a woman parked on West 17th Street near 7th Avenue in Manhattan Thursday[hhmc]

• The woman's baby was in the back seat and she leaped to protect the baby when the man tried to open the back door[hhmc]

• The suspect ran off; the mother and baby were not physically hurt[hhmc]

Terrifying surveillance video shows a man throwing open the door of a woman's car parked on a Manhattan street and threatening her at knife point while her baby was in the backseat, police say.

The NYPD released the video Thursday night in hopes of finding the suspect in the attempted carjacking in Chelsea earlier in the day.

It happened in broad daylight, around 3:30 p.m., on West 17th Street near Seventh Avenue, according to police. The man is seen on video waiting between two parked vehicles, apparently waiting for an opening to target the woman sitting in the driver's seat of a parked SUV.

He approaches the car, opens the driver's door and points a large knife at the 39-year-old woman, video shows.

Cops Seek Suspect in Carjacking Attempt in Manhattan

The victim described the confrontation to News 4 New York Thursday.

"All of a sudden, this guy came and opened the door and said, 'I have a knife,'" the woman told News 4. "And I was like immediately, 'My baby's in the back seat, my baby's in the back seat.' My mother's instinct kicked in, and I tried to get him out of the way and I started screaming, and then he ran away."

The woman and her 16-month-old baby were not physically hurt.

Police are looking for the suspect, described as being about 25 to 30 years old, 5-feet-8 and 135 pounds, with his hair in a ponytail and last seen wearing a red knit cap, a white and dark colored V-neck shirt, gray pants, white socks and black loafers.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS.

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