TAMPA, Fla. — A Tampa man was arrested after a video appeared to show him holding an 11-year-old girl to the ground as she screamed for help. 

Hillsborough County deputies responded just after noon on Saturday to Allison Park Place after receiving reports of a man assaulting a child.

Video captured by people at the scene shows a man hovering over a girl and holding her down as he takes out his phone and moves it toward her face. 

“I wasn’t doing anything, I swear to God,” the girl can be heard screaming in the video. “Help me! Help me! Help!”

When deputies arrived, 43-year-old Marius Mutu reportedly told them that someone had been throwing eggs at his apartment for the past week. 

“When it happened again that day, he assumed the girl walking nearby was responsible,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a post.

That’s when, according to investigators, Mutu chased the girl down, forced her to the ground and restrained her until other adults intervened.

Mutu reportedly claimed that he was trying to take a photo of the child to report to apartment management. 

“This type of behavior is not only unacceptable, it’s reprehensible. The safety of our children is non-negotiable,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement. “This child endured a terrifying and traumatic experience at the hands of someone who chose to take matters into his own hands. We remain committed to protecting our children and ensuring those who harm them are held fully accountable.”

Mutu was taken into custody at the scene and charged with battery and false imprisonment.