Balloon Game Goes Bust When Tulsa State Fair Worker Is Arrested

Tulsa County deputies busted a Tulsa State Fair vendor after they say he violated the Carnival Fraud Act by altering the rules of a game and putting a bounty on stuffed prizes.

Jon Morton, 34, of LaSalle Ill., was booked into the Tulsa County jail Saturday night after an undercover bust on the midway in Tulsa.

According to an arrest report, Morton informed a deputy he could purchase five darts for $3 or seven darts for $10 and attempt to pop balloons for a prize. Those also were the same rules posted on a sign near the game.

9/29/2013 Related Story: Hello Kitty Doll Lands Tulsa State Fair Worker In Jail

The deputy asked how much it would cost to buy a stuffed ‘minion doll,' and Morton told him that if he played the game well, it would cost $80 to win the doll, the report says.

"Morton stated that if he played the game well, it would cost $80 to win the ‘minion doll,'" and the deputy told Morton he just wanted to win the doll, the report says.

Morton reportedly told the deputy to put down $60 and he would give him the doll if he popped a balloon with one dart. According to the report, the deputy said he didn't want to risk missing the balloon with one dart and asked if he could purchase the doll without playing.

"Morton then placed approximately 20 darts in front of [the deputy] and stated that for $60 he would give [him] the minion doll for the first balloon he popped, no matter how many darts it took," the report said.

The deputy threw one dart and popped a balloon, but when Morton asked for the $60, the deputy gave him two marked $20 bills and told him that was all he had.

Morton gave the deputy a minion doll and a monkey doll and was arrested.

During Morton's arrest, deputies also found a marijuana pipe in his work apron.

He was booked into the jail just before 11 p.m. on $750 bond and was released at 2 a.m.