THIS is the shocking moment a knife-wielding thief attempts to snatch a baby during a bungled supermarket heist.

Terrified shoppers watched in horror as the shoplifter wrestled with the tot’s mum with a knife in his hand after his failed burglary.

The thief tried to leave the supermarket without paying for several bags of weighed seafood items.

He was initially apprehended by a staffer, but later managed to break free at the store in Penang, Malaysia, the New Straits Times reported.

The robber, reportedly a 36-year-old Vietnamese national, was then seen in the jaw-dropping footage, trying to dodge several shoppers and workers in an attempt to run away.

He is first seen shrugging off the grip of two onlookers, before making a dash for the exit.

Wearing a blue top and white shorts, the suspect is seen frantically running away.

But on his way out, he snatches a baby out of an innocent mum’s hands.

She desperately clings on to her child – and the mum and thief are then seen pulling the baby in two separate directions.

The baby is seen wailing while other shoppers can be heard calling for the man to be stopped.

Violently clawing onto the baby’s shirt, the man is then grabbed by a brave bystander who tries to subdue the sick attacker.

He can be seen clenching his fist while gripping a knife in one hand while he uses the other to tussle with the child’s parent.

Another onlooker even attempts to clobber the man with a chair, as he approaches the scuffle with a stool.

The baby was thankfully wrestled free just moments later after several others shoppers decided to intervene.

The suspect was also apprehended by a worker after he took a few punches from outraged bystanders.

The Vietnamese man was arrested by local cops in Butterworth after the ordeal which unfolded at around 12:45pm on August 9.

Local police chief Assistant Commissioner Anuar Abd Rahman said: “In a subsequent attempt to recapture him, the suspect allegedly grabbed an 11-month-old boy and held a knife to the child in a bid to avoid arrest.

“The suspect was eventually overpowered and detained by the supervisor with the help of supermarket staff (members) and passers-by.”

The officer added that the suspect “tested negative for drugs, and he has no prior record”.

Police have launched a probe and are still currently investigating the circumstances of the ordeal.

In January, haunting footage captured the shocking moment a “cradle snatcher” who posed as a nurse fled from a hospital with a stolen baby wrapped in her arms.

Natalia Edith González, 39, was arrested for allegedly nabbing the newborn from a hospital in Paraguay.

She was just 50 metres from escaping over the Argentine border with it.

It was believed she was on the hunt for an infant to steal after lying to her family – including her partner – about being pregnant, and identified a target after scouring three hospitals.