A Florida man who tried to pawn his baby at a local store and then posted footage of the bizarre incident online has spoken out to insist it was a prank after being reported to the police.
Brian Slocum was filmed going into pawn shop in Sarasota, Florida, on Tuesday with his seven-month-old son, both on security cameras and on his cell phone.
He says he intended it to be a prank and uploaded the video to Snapchat but the store owner thought he was serious and reported him to the authorities.
He spoke out on Thursday to insist that no harm was done to his baby and that it was all a joke.
The store owner then called police and a massive manhunt ensued which ended in dozens of police showing up outside Brian Slocum's door.
Footage that Slocum posted on Snapchat shows him walking up to store owner Richard Jordan and putting his seven-month-old son Caden on the counter in a holder, saying: 'How are you doing buddy, this is what I got.
'No one under 18 in here, but he's barely used, he's seven and a half month's old, what do you think he's worth?. Just a pawn, I don't want to get rid of him.'