Man arrested in connection with attempted kidnapping, sexual assault

Kevin James Perkins, pictured in a June 2014 Department of Corrections photo, is accused of trying to kidnap a 16-year-old girl in August while she jogged outside of Kent. Kevin James Perkins, pictured in a June 2014 Department of Corrections photo, is accused of trying to kidnap a 16-year-old girl in August while she jogged outside of Kent. Photo: Department Of Corrections Photo: Department Of Corrections Image 1 of / 20 Caption Close Man arrested in connection with attempted kidnapping, sexual assault 1 / 20 Back to Gallery

Authorities arrested a 52-year-old man on Thursday accused of trying to abduct and rape a 16-year-old girl more than a month ago outside Kent.

Kevin James Perkins had a $500,000 warrant for his arrest when King County Sheriff's deputies caught up to him with the help of U.S. Marshals. DNA taken from under the teen victim's fingernails led investigators to identify the suspect as Perkins.

Prosecutors charged him Sept. 28 with first-degree attempted kidnapping.

The girl was jogging in the Star Lake area of unincorporated Kent about 11:45 p.m. Aug. 13 near South 272nd Street and 42nd Avenue South when she spotted a dark SUV parked on the right side of the road with a man sitting outside it, "acting like he was fixing it," according to the incident report.

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The teen later told police the man "was looking really weirdly at her, and that she thought something was going to happen" and tried to turn around, but he grabbed her with both hands, court records said. She screamed, but he choked her and covered her mouth, then pulled her hair and slammed her head against the SUV four times.

He then allegedly threw the teen onto the driver's seat and tried to remove her pants. The victim scratched her attacker, honked the car's horn and kicked him, ultimately prompting him to fall to the ground.

The man then grabbed her by the throat again, but he fell again while she scratched him and she wriggled out of her sweatshirt and a shoe to run away.

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He had also wrestled her phone away during the struggle, reports indicated.

The teen tried to flag down passing cars and the fourth one to come along stopped when she stepped into traffic. A man and woman inside the car took her to a friend's house.

The King County Sheriff's Office released a sketch of the suspected attacker Aug. 21, seeking the public's help. A tipster that day claimed she was asleep the night of the attack and awoke to a woman screaming for help and thought she heard a male voice saying, "Stop."

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She and her husband found a green sweatshirt, baseball cap and head phones belonging to the victim at the scene of the assault. They called authorities and deputies collected the items.

A DNA profile extracted from one of the victim's fingernails matched that of Perkins, who also resembled a police sketch developed in the wake of the attack.

SeattlePI reporter Lynsi Burton can be reached at 206-448-8381 or lynsiburton@seattlepi.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LynsiBurton_PI. Find more from Lynsi here.