A child was safely returned to his family after being kidnapped in a stolen vehicle in the San Fernando Valley.

The kidnapping was reported at 7:07 p.m. Monday near the corner of Bradley and Oswald streets in Sylmar. A man got into a running vehicle and fled with the 10-year-old inside, police said.

The child’s father said the truck was stolen while he was unloading something at a neighbor’s house.

“I left the truck in the driveway and honestly it all happened in a second,” said the father, who wished to remain anonymous.

Two men heard the father’s desperate cries and immediately took action. Gernaro Cortes and his brother jumped into their vehicle and tried to pursue the truck.

The two brothers said the man started driving erratically when he realized they were following him. Just when they thought they had lost him, they noticed the red truck with the child inside broken down on Jessie Street in San Fernando.

“I got out of the car and noticed there was no man there. I went straight to the boy, he was just shocked,” Cortes said. “He doesn’t really know me. He saw my brother and said ‘OK.’ He unlocked the car and I grabbed him and he just collapsed. I have two kids, so I was just devastated.”

The boy was reunited with his father, who was grateful to his neighbors for pursuing the kidnapper and not giving up.

“Thank God the boy is safe and sound because they rescued him in less than 20 minutes,” the father said.

No arrests have been made and a description of the kidnapper was not immediately available. The LAPD is leading the investigation.