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12-year-old boy talks about escaping kidnapping in Boynton Beach

Posted at 8:00 PM, Aug 28, 2019
and last updated 2019-08-29 07:24:31-04

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. — A 12-year-old boy that jumped out of a moving truck to get away from an accused kidnapper in Boynton Beach is thanking the good Samaritans that raced to his rescue.

“It was scary when I jumped out, I thought I was dreaming for a little bit because I didn’t know what happened,” said the boy, who spoke exclusively with WPTV.

The middle school student is still battling headaches and is nursing bumps and bruises on his forehead, gashes on his hands, and his hospital bracelet was still on his wrist.

“When I move it and stuff it kind of hurts,” the boy said referring to his index finger.

The 12-year-old’s family asked WPTV to hide his identity for safety reasons, but he’s sharing his terrorizing tale after he was nearly kidnapped while walking home from school last week.

“He came and asked me for a ride and said that he was nice and does this a lot and helps kids a lot,” the boy said.

Police say 26-year-old Timothy Miller lured the youngster into his pickup truck thinking he had drugs. The boy says he thought Miller was taking him home but quickly grew more scared.

“Then, he was swerving and speeding and I told him to stop and let me go, but he wouldn’t stop so I opened the door,” the boy said.

The youngster jumped out of the moving pickup landing face-first as two good samaritans raced to help him. His sister says she had a feeling something was wrong that afternoon.

“He wasn’t calling and when we called him he wasn’t answering, so we were already trying to figure out what was going on,” she said.

But behind the pickup truck was Angel Perez, a delivery driver, who saw the boy land in the middle of Hypoluxo Road. Angel and his co-worker raced after Miller while calling 911, and then they blocked his truck until police arrived.

“I want to say thank you very much for stopping and helping me out, and I hope something great happens to you,” the boy said.

The student says he learned an important lesson and is now warning other kids to always be careful.

“Don’t get into a car with a stranger if you don’t know them, let your mom know what’s happening and keep updating them,” he said.

The boy has been out of school and has another doctor’s appointment on Thursday.

Last week, Miller was held on no bond and is facing a number of serious charges.