RIVIERA BEACH — A 24-year-old man kidnapped his ex-girlfriend and her two children Sunday, fled from police and crashed into a pole all because he was angry that the woman’s family dislikes him, according to Riviera Beach Police officers.
Ryan Cunningham, of Riviera Beach, was arrested Sunday on charges of felony battery, kidnapping and child neglect.
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This morning, he did not make his first appearance before a judge because he is still at St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach.
The 23-year-old ex-girlfriend, whose name was redacted from a Riviera Beach Police probable cause affidavit, told officers that Cunningham came to her apartment on Blue Heron Boulevard around midnight Sunday.
She answered the door while holding one of her sons and Cunningham told her his mother was waiting outside, and wanted to talk to her.
When the woman declined to go outside, Cunningham grabbed her and her son and brought them to his vehicle which was later found to be stolen.
Cunningham went back into the apartment and snatched the victim’s other son and put him in the vehicle also.
The woman soon learned that Cunningham’s mother was not in the vehicle.
Cunningham accused the woman of causing her family to not like him because he left the children – ages 1 and 4 – home alone one day.
He then drove off and was speeding and driving reckless, according to the affidavit.
They arrived at a gas station where the woman tried escaping.
But Cunningham forced her back in the vehicle when he told her that if she leaves she would never see her children again.
He told her she was going to “pay for what she did,” the woman told officers, referring to his statement that she made her family dislike him.
Soon after, they left the gas station and came across a West Palm Beach Police car.
Cunningham told the woman not to say anything to police, and when he pulled up next to the car, he asked the officer for directions to Interstate 95, the affidavit says.
The officer noticed the woman looked upset and ran the vehicle’s tag number, showing that the vehicle was stolen.
The officer tried to pull the vehicle over around 15th Street and North Dixie Highway, but instead a chase ensued after Cunningham fled.
When he reached 15th Street and Australian Avenue, Cunningham – who police say smelled of alcohol – lost control of the vehicle and hit a pole, sending himself, the woman and her two children all to St. Mary’s Medical.
The woman arrived at the hospital unconscious and suffered a concussion and bruises, according to the affidavit.
The children were treated for pelvis, rib and hip injuries. They were both admitted to the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit.
Their conditions were not immediately known today.
