The dramatic moment a man from Western Australia was arrested over allegedly kidnapping Cleo Smith has been captured on a taxi dash cam.
Terence Darrell Kelly was arrested on Tuesday night, roughly one hour before detectives found Cleo locked inside a Carnarvon home.
CCTV and dash cam footage from a nearby taxi has shown the moment the 36-year-old man was pulled over by police, before being pinned to the ground and arrested.
In a statement released late on Thursday, police said Mr Kelly had been charged with “various offences”, including one count of forcibly taking a child under the age of 16.
Terence was pulled over by police just 4km from the house Cleo was later discovered in.
“The cops were chasing that car initially and they were all surrounding that car on the side of the curb and we saw one of the detectives on top of the guy, pinning him down,” a witness told 7NEWS of the arrest.
When questioned about the missing 4-year-old, Terence told police he had no idea what they were talking about.
Police moved quickly when Terence was identified as a suspect on Tuesday night, and found Cleo alive and well moments later.
Cleo had been missing for 18 days, after she was allegedly taken from her family’s tent at the Blowholes campsite near Carnarvon.
Homicide detective Cameron Blaine, who was among Cleo’s rescuers, said she appeared to be holding up well.
Image credits: Facebook / 7News
This article first appeared on Over60.