10-year-old kidnapped after baseball practice punches man to escape, Oklahoma cops say

When an Oklahoma mom arrived at the baseball fields to pick up her 10-year-old son after practice, she reported he was nowhere to be found.

Other parents and players were already looking for him, she told authorities when calling for help.

Oklahoma City police officers were responding to the missing child call at PCAA Fields when they learned the child had since been found. He and his family were waiting for police by the time officers arrived shortly after 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 3.

As his parents tried to comfort him, the 10-year-old boy was “crying and shaken up” while reporting what happened, according to a police report.

He says he had been sitting by himself on the upper left side of the ball field bleachers after baseball practice — waiting for his mom — when a man carrying a “briefcase” grabbed him and forced him away by holding his chest, authorities said.

After he was taken at least 200 yards away, behind a nearby building, the boy reported he “was able to punch (the man) and break free.” He then frantically ran back to the bleachers looking for help. As the suspect was moving quickly back toward him, the boy told the officer he decided to hide.

The man ran away, police said, and the boy was able to reunite with his family.

Meanwhile, authorities say a groundskeeper on a John Deer Gator had followed the suspect out of the ball park. He “provided a grainy cell pic of the (suspect), who appeared to be wearing black colored clothing and carrying a handbag or briefcase type bag.”

Responding officers found a man matching the description, police said, and the boy then identified him as the same man he punched and escaped from.

The man, later identified as 39-year-old Ryan Wayne Miller, was arrested on a kidnapping charge, according to jail records. He is being held on a $50,000 bond.

The boy says the man did not “make any statements to him” or assault him, according to the police report.

This story was originally published August 4, 2022 at 11:45 AM with the headline "10-year-old kidnapped after baseball practice punches man to escape, Oklahoma cops say."