SAN DIEGO — The man accused of grabbing an 8-year-old boy and attempting to pull him across the street in Ocean Beach last month pleaded guilty to a felony imprisonment charge.
The San Diego County District Attorney’s office confirmed to CBS 8 that Christopher Higginbotham, 38, pleaded guilty to the felony charge in court on Tuesday.
Higginbotham is expected to be sentenced to two years in prison during a hearing on May 8.
On March 27, CBS 8 first reported on Higginbotham’s attempted kidnapping of an 8-year-old boy playing on the sidewalk of his family’s business in Ocean Beach.
The incident was captured on video in front of the father while the family was finishing dinner outside the new deli they just opened on Newport Avenue.
The boy’s father, Adrian Villanueva, told CBS 8 that he and his family were on the patio enjoying dinner and his eight-year-old son was playing on the sidewalk when a man came up from behind the boy, grabbed him and tried to pull him across the street.
“Security guards from Pacific Shores and from The Harp, they came over here and they grabbed him and pulled towards to the car,” Villanueva said in an interview with CBS 8.
Bystanders jumped in to help and were able to pull the boy to safety and restrained the suspect until police got there.
“He was crying. He was crying. Saying, 'I miss my family. I miss my family,'” said Villanueva.
Higginbotham was arrested after Villanueva pressed charges against him for the attempted kidnapping of his son.
He initially pleaded not guilty to two felony charges in Downtown San Diego Court on March 29.
After the incident, CBS 8 found a 2018 Crime Stoppers issued for Higginbotham. He was captured and had a history of felony convictions involving assault with a deadly weapon.
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