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Man Accused Of Trying To Kidnap ‘Very Scared’ 9-Year-Old Girl At Harry Potter Ride
Police say Jason Mikel tried to force a young girl to go with him at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida.
An Illinois man is accused of trying to snatch a 9-year-old girl at a Harry Potter ride inside Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida.
The child said she was in the locker area of the Forbidden Journey attraction when a “man touched her on her shoulders and told her to go outside and her mother was outside,” an arrest affidavit obtained by Oxygen.com states. “She got scared and was able to get away from him and return to her mother.”
The suspect, Jason Mikel, 23, of Minooka, Ill., attempted to get away but he was grabbed by several park employees. He was held at the Hogwarts Express attraction until police arrived on the scene.
A witness told authorities that she saw Mikel “with his hands on the shoulders of the victim” and that the “victim looked very scared and not associated with the male.”
The girl’s mother told police “she lost sight of the victim for a brief moment. The victim then ran to her very scared and stating someone tried to grab her.”
The mother explained that she never gave anyone permission to touch her child or to try to remove her.
Police also allegedly found a paper-wrapped bundle of a “leafy substance,” believed to be two grams worth of marijuana, in Mikel’s possession. By the time police arrived at the scene, they said Mikel had a scraped left knee and a swollen upper lip.
“He spontaneously stated he thought someone was grabbing him and he fell,” the affidavit states.
Mikel was charged with battery, attempted kidnapping and marijuana possession. It’s unclear if he has a lawyer who can speak on his behalf. Mikel has also been banned from all Universal Studios properties, the Miami Herald reports.
[Photo: Orange County Jail]
