SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- Police are searching for a homeless man a Mission Valley father says tried dragging his daughter into bushes before she was able to escape.
Chris Gilbert says his 11-year-old daughter went to check the mail Saturday around 2 p.m. on the 5900 block of Caminito Deporte when the incident happened.
After walking across the street to check the mail, Gilbert says his daughter felt hands on her shoulders.
RELATED: San Diego Homelessness Czar to go on leave to open Mormon temple
"She thought it was me, sneaking up playing a game,” Gilbert said.
Then, Gilbert says, the man grabbed the 11-year-old by the neck and started dragging her toward some bushes.
“She told me he put his hands on her shoulders from behind and was holding her, turned around and kicked him in the shin, got loose and ran into the house and found me upstairs.”
That’s when Gilbert ran downstairs to confront the homeless man, hitting him in the shoulder as a warning.
RELATED: Oceanside residents demand solution to homelessness issue
“I said, ‘you need to get out of here,’ then he started hitting me.”
Gilbert’s daughter describes the man as six foot, two inches tall, between the ages of 40 to 45 with thick glasses. She says, during the incident, the man was wearing a dirty blue shirt and jeans.
Anyone with information is asked to call San Diego Police.
