OCEANSIDE, Calif. -- A 40-year-old man was in custody Thursday on suspicion of entering his neighbor's apartment in Oceanside and threatening to kill her three young children, police said.

Edwin Lugo allegedly approached Rose Pelaez's three children, ages 3, 5 and 7, while they played outside their apartment in the 200 block of Douglas Drive around 6 p.m. Wednesday, said Lt. Kim Rainwater of the Oceanside Police Department.

Pelaez told police she ushered her children inside after hearing Lugo yelling at them, saying how he was going to kill them all, Rainwater said.

That's when Lugo allegedly followed them in and went to the kitchen toward a butcher's block full of knives, grabbing the 3-year-old in the process.

The tot struggled and was able to break free of Lugo's grasp unharmed and the family fled the apartment, leaving Lugo alone inside, Rainwater said.

When police arrived and entered the home, Lugo allegedly took a fighting stance and threatened an officer with physical harm. The officer used his baton to push Lugo to the ground and handcuffed him, she said.

He has been booked into jail on suspicion of kidnapping, criminal threats, threats on a peace officer, residential burglary and child endangerment.

A motive for the alleged attack was not immediately known but other children in the area told police that moments before the incident with Pelaez's children, Lugo approached them and was taking photos of them using his cellular phone.

They said he made comments that did not make sense, threatened to kill at least one of them and was "acting strange," Rainwater said.

The children fled and no one was hurt, she said.

Lugo has a criminal history with battery and an active restraining order against him in Florida, she said. Police searched his apartment and found empty beer cans but there was no immediate word on whether he may have been drunk or under the influence of drugs at the the time of the incident, Rainwater said.