Pinellas County deputies have arrested a man they say tried to abduct a boy in Dunedin.

Jeff Stephen Mills, 53, was taken into custody Sunday morning.

On Friday, deputies received a report of an attempted kidnapping. An 8-year-old boy said he was walking from a bus stop on Colony Drive when Mills drove up next to him.

Mills reportedly told the boy, “I work with your dad, and he wants me to pick up.”

The boy did not recognize the man and kept walking, according to investigators.

When Mills got out of his car, the boy ran home and told his parents what happened.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, Mills admitted Sunday to talking to the boy.  

During the course of their investigation, deputies learned that Mills came into contact with two other boys, both 12, near the intersection of Lakewood Drive and Dogwood Drive on Friday.

Mills admitted to hugging the 12-year-old boys without their permission.

He has been charged with luring or enticing a child and two counts of simple battery.