Early-Morning Domestic Dispute Includes Alleged Abduction

OCEAN CITY — A Columbia, Md. man was arrested on first-degree assault charges last weekend after allegedly running over a female victim while attempting to flee with the couple’s child.

Around 5:40 a.m. last Friday, Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) officers responded to a residence on Newport Bay Drive for a reported abduction or kidnapping. Ocean City Communications provided several notes about the incident to officers including hearing “says someone kidnapped the baby,” and “she thinks he’s going to kill her,” and “he hit her with the car,” according to police reports.

OCPD officers arrived and met with a female victim who had multiple bodily injuries to her head, torso and arms. Officers noted the victim was limping and complaining of pain all over her body, according to police reports. The victim advised her husband, Ryan Parham, 38, of Columbia, Md., took their one-year-son and had hit her with his car before fleeing the area, according to police reports. Parham was later located by Worcester County Sheriff’s deputies traveling on Route 50 near Whaleyville.

According to police reports, officers had a previous encounter with the couple and the Worcester County Crisis Response Team responded and created a safety plan for the victim. After the plan was established, the victim told Parham she no longer wanted to be in the relationship and he become angry and began throwing glass items on the ground, according to police reports.

The victim reportedly advised Parham went upstairs in their residence where the one-year-old and the couple’s three-month-old child were sleeping and attempted to leave the unit with the one-year-old. The victim reportedly told officers she ran outside with a knife in an attempt to prevent Parham from leaving with her child, which was seated on Parham’s lap in the driver’s seat, according to police reports.

The victim reportedly told police she jumped on the hood of the vehicle, believing she could prevent him from leaving with the child. The victim told police she feared for the safety of the child, who was on Parham’s lap and not restrained, and for her own safety, according to police reports.

The victim reportedly told officer Parham then began to drive forward, even accelerating, while she was on the hood of the vehicle. As Parham accelerated, the victim fell off the hood of the vehicle, which is when she sustained her injuries. The victim had significant injuries corroborating her version of the incident, according to police reports.

When questioned, Parham told officers the victim was attempting to prevent him from leaving with their one-year-old child, according to police reports. Parham told police he knew he struck the victim with the vehicle and that he should have stayed, but that the victim had not been on the hood and had only been struck by the driver’s side of the vehicle.

Based on the victim’s testimony and her significant bodily injuries consistent with being thrown from a vehicle and hitting her head and other parts of the body on the asphalt, Parham was arrested and charged with first- and second-degree assault.

About The Author: Shawn Soper

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Shawn Soper has been with The Dispatch since 2000. He began as a staff writer covering various local government beats and general stories. His current positions include managing editor and sports editor. Growing up in Baltimore before moving to Ocean City full time three decades ago, Soper graduated from Loch Raven High School in 1981 and from Towson University in 1985 with degrees in mass communications with a journalism concentration and history.