SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KGTV) - Attempting to shed some light on a bizarre attempted kidnapping in City Heights, the son of the suspect says his father had fallen "so far into temptation it just took him over."
The son, Michael Mahurin, Jr. said he had become estranged from his father, Michael Todd Mahurin.
Mahurin Jr. described his father as "a good man" but criticized his recent lifestyle choices, which he said has led to bad decisions.
"Once that world gets you, it's kind of hard to pull away from that world," he said.
But the accusations of kidnapping surprised him, saying his father had no history of abusing children. He said he did not want to defend his father against the allegations but added, "If he was in his right mind, he wouldn't have done it."
Police said Mahurin had taken a 6-year-old boy outside a home in Fox Canyon while his parents were inside at a Fourth of July party. But he was stopped in his tracks when his truck wouldn't start, so he enlisted a neighbor to help jump it.
Just before midnight, the boy's parents were leaving the party when they realized their son was missing, sparking a frantic search of the neighborhood.
When the boy's family approached Mahurin he was in the process of jumping his truck outside the home.
The boy's uncle, Bobby Khammao, says they asked him multiple times if he had seen the boy, but Mahurin denied it. The boy's father eventually peeked inside the truck and saw his son.
Khammao said they held Mahurin down until police arrived. He has been booked on felony counts of kidnapping and false imprisonment. He is scheduled to appear in court on Friday.
