A 4-year-old Port Chester boy went missing Sunday night, only to be found by the city's mayor blocks away.

"I was shocked. First of all, to see that small of a kid crossing the street by himself," Port Chester Mayor Luis Marino recalled.

It was like an instinct activated when Marino saw the 4-year-old boy crossing Westchester Avenue around 8 p.m.

"I say, 'Something is wrong here,'" Marino said. He said the boy crossed the street right in front of his car -- a dangerous thing to do during the day, let alone in the cover of night.

"I stop my car, I get out of my car, I grab the kid to make sure he was OK," Marino said.

He called police and learned the boy had been reported missing an hour before blocks away on Irving Avenue.

"I thought the worst, I don't wish that on anyone," the boy's mother told News 12 in Spanish.

She said her son managed to escape their apartment in a split second and made it down a steep flight of stairs. The boy walked alone past a construction zone before he ended up on Westchester Avenue.

"I thank God because it was a good thing that someone found my son," she said.

Police said this story could have turned out much worse.

"A young little boy like that, running out into the street, could be hit by a car or somebody could have picked him up, God forbid... A lot of bad things could happen," said Port Chester Police Capt. Charles Neilsen.

Marino hopes situations like this one will help improve police relations with the large Hispanic, mostly Spanish-speaking population in Port Chester.

"It's very important. If you see robbery, if you see something happening, call the police," Marino said.

The boy's mother said she is looking into adding extra security measures so her 4-year-old isn't able to escape their apartment again.