Ada man tried to lure kids with “mobile petting zoo,” undersheriff says

ADA, Okla. (KXII) - An Ada man is in jail after around 20 people say they saw him trying to kidnap a child at a rodeo event on Saturday.

According to the Pontotoc County Sheriff’s Department,  Micah Perkins labeled his car a “mobile petting zoo” and drove it around at the Pontotoc County Agri-plex, asking kids to come inside.

“There was not only the one child involved,” Undersheriff Arnold Scott said. “There were several that he had attempted to get to come to his ‘mobile petting zoo.’”

Scott said Perkins used chalk paint to write “Mobile Petting Zoo” on his car, which had two dogs, a cat, a chicken, and a snake inside.

Several kids told deputies he tried to lure them inside.

According to a sheriff’s report, one 14-year-old girl told him no, but Perkins persisted.

“He began to follow her in his car and try to block her in between a trailer and a fence that was there on the Agri-plex grounds, and was evidently waving a stick at her,” Scott said.

Scott said the girl did the right thing when Perkins came after her- she made as much noise as she could.

“She was screaming, hollering for her parents, telling him ‘no, get away,’ she didn’t want to, and other parents that were in close proximity heard her screaming and yelling at this guy,” Scott said.

After calling 911, several parents confronted Perkins, who drove away, but he wasn’t done yet.

“Went out the south entrance, turned and came back through the Agri-plex for some reason, and ended up striking two parents that were trying to stop him, struck him with the car,” Scott said.

Another man tried to climb in Perkins’ car through an open window, and Perkins tried to stab him with a large knife, according to the report.

“We were heading out to the Agri-plex, ended up encountering the vehicle up here,” Scott said. “I guess he was coming up to the sheriff’s office, cause the parents were then chasing him with the vehicle.”

Perkins is now in jail with no bond.

Scott said the sheriff’s department will have a deputy at every event at the Agri-plex now.

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