This is the terrifying moment a 38-year-old man tried to kidnap an eight-year-old boy from California in front of the child’s parents during a family celebration.
The ordeal occurred around 8 p.m. on March 22, as the boy’s parents celebrated the opening of their new deli, Newport Quick Stop Liquor and Deli.
A strange man, now named Christopher Aaron Higginbotham, tried to kidnap their son while he was playing on the sidewalk.
The boy’s father, Adrian Villanueva, told locals CBS8 News that his family was having dinner on the patio when he saw a man enter his store three times that same evening, behaving erratically.
The third time, Villanueva said he “took my kid right here.” He just grabbed him and pulled him down. And he said, ‘This is my son, this is my son,'” he recalled.
The would-be kidnapper is seen grabbing Villaneuva’s eight-year-old son
The man grabs him as he is about to run into the street before the boy’s father intervenes
The boy’s father, Adrian Villanueva, said: ‘I pushed him. I said, ‘No, he’s not your son,’ and then I tried to get him out. And then he grabbed my child and started running down the street.”
The shocked father said: ‘I pushed him. I said, ‘No, he’s not your son,’ and then I tried to get him out. And then he grabbed my child and started running down the street,” he recalled.
Security guards from some nearby businesses and community members saw what was happening and intervened. They were able to restrain the man until police arrived.
The man was identified as Higginbotham, 38. He was arrested for false imprisonment and battery, San Diego Police Department PIO Lt. Dan Meyer told DailyMail.com.
Meyer said Higginbotham was arrested at 9:30 a.m. on March 27 at 1950 Abbott Street in Ocean Beach by Western Beach Team officers.
He was charged with false imprisonment and battery, and said the case remains actively investigated.
It was later revealed that Higginbotham was a wanted fugitive and had a history of convictions for assault with a deadly weapon, according to a 2018 investigation. Crime Stoppers.
When Villaneuva discovered it was the same man who tried to kidnap his son, he decided to press charges.
‘Today was my child, tomorrow someone else could be a child. That is why I am filing charges,” Villanueva said.
The attacker was identified as Christopher Aaron Higginbotham, 38; San Diego police told DailyMail.com he was arrested Wednesday for false imprisonment and battery
Bystanders are seen restraining the would-be kidnapper until police arrive
The boy’s father recalled his fear during the kidnapping attempt: “I didn’t care if he had guns or anything like that, I’m just trying to save my son.”
He said his son was traumatized by the event: “When I saw him with watery eyes and saw his mother and started crying, it was terrible.”
Villanueva, a father of four, said he initially did not press charges because he felt sorry for the man.
He told NBC San Diego that the man kept saying, “I miss my family. I miss my family,” and assumed the man had some family trauma, but after watching the video he decided to press charges.
“I realized how serious the incident was,” he said. ‘I want to protect every child. There are bad people on the streets, and I don’t want that to happen to anyone else.”
The family also owns a restaurant in the Ocean Beach area and spends a lot of time there, but, his son told his father, he no longer wants to go to his parents’ businesses.
“He told me, ‘Dad, I don’t want to go back to Newport anymore. There are bad people on the streets. I don’t want to go back there. Please don’t take me there,'” Villanueva said. .
His advice to other parents: “Be alert and take care of the children,” he said.
He added: “I want the people who come to the store to feel safe.”