$1 Million Bond For Man Charged With Trying To Abduct Girls

(WHBC) – The man accused of trying to abduct girls from a Canton park made his first court appearance on Friday morning.

Jay Whitney Miller’s bond was set at $1 million during his arraignment hearing in Canton Municipal Court.

The 50-year-old is facing four counts of attempted abduction, a 4th degree felony.

He did not enter a plea during the hearing.

A status conference hearing is set for Wednesday and a preliminary hearing for Thursday.

Police officers responded to Weis Park at 2600 Harvard Avenue NW at around 5:40 p.m. Wednesday to investigate a report of a suspicious person.

Officers were told a man, later identified as Miller, had approached four girls that were on the playground and told them he was going to abduct them.

Court records state Miller threatened to hit the girls in the head with a hammer, wrap their mouths with duct tape and drag them to his car.

David Ratchford was coaching his son’s baseball team at the time and followed Miller to the parking lot and tried to get him to stop, but he got in his car and sped off.

Ratchford got the man’s license plate and gave it to police who quickly arrested him.