Suspect in attempted Wal-Mart kidnapping on probation for manslaughter

Security footage shows the little girl looking at toys in the supermarket when the man begins talking to her and then grabs her, putting his hand over her mouth

The man charged with trying to kidnap a 7-year-old girl Wednesday from a west Georgia Wal-Mart was on probation at the time after serving a sentence for a voluntary manslaughter conviction in DeKalb County, according to police.

Thomas Andrew Woods, 25, of Austell, was taken into custody and questioned before being arrested Wednesday afternoon, Bremen Police Chief Keith Pesnell told the AJC.

"We're pretty confident we've got the right guy," Pesnell said.

But as Woods was being led in handcuffs from the police department to a patrol car, he told reporters that the police had the wrong man.

"I was never there," Woods said.

According to police, Woods started talking to Brittney Baxter in the toy aisle of the Wal-Mart and then grabbed her and put his hand around her mouth.

But Brittney kicked and screamed, and the man let her go, police said. Neither she nor her mother, who was nearby in the store, was injured.

"When she told me someone had tried to get her, I just couldn't believe it," Brittney's mother, Georgeann Baxter, told Channel 2 Action News.

Store surveillance cameras captured the incident, and based on the description of the suspect's vehicle, police located Woods a few miles away in Tallapoosa, Pesnell said.

Woods was charged with attempted kidnapping, and additional charges are likely, Pesnell said. The suspect was being held in the Haralson County Jail. GBI agents are assisting with the investigation.

Woods was released in October from the Wheeler Correctional Facility, where he had been since April 2007 following his manslaughter conviction in DeKalb, according to the state Department of Corrections. He was placed on probation after serving out his sentence. Earlier reports that Woods was out on parole were incorrect, according to Steve Hayes, spokesman for the state Board of Pardons and Parole.

According to DeKalb County jail records, Woods, previously of Tucker, was arrested in October 2004, three months after the crime for which he was convicted. He was 17 years old at the time.

The Bremen police chief praised Brittney's actions.