From Staff Reports
A man told police he was kidnapped, robbed and tied to a tree in Canadian County near Yukon early Friday, Aug. 21, and no arrests have been reported.
Christopher Baxter, 49, said he was able to get loose from ropes and duct tape near NW 10 and Richland Road and go to a house to call for help, according to an Oklahoma City police report.
Police were called to the 700 block of Dusty Trail in an addition located north of Interstate 40 near Mustang Road about 12:10 a.m. Friday where Canadian County Sheriff’s deputies had already arrived and found Baxter.
Baxter said he knew one of his abductors, a friend whose children Baxter was going to become a godfather to, according to an Oklahoma City police report.
The friend, whose name was not released, came to Baxter’s house about 6:15 p.m. Thursday where Baxter planned to go to dinner with him. That is when another man came to the front door with a shotgun demanding “$30,000.” The man with the shotgun shoved the gun into Baxter’s chest, a police report states.
The friend and the man with the shotgun then put a pillowcase over Baxter’s head and locked him in a bathroom of the house for about three hours, Baxter told police. The men ransacked the house, demanding pass codes for his cellphone and his wallet and keys.
When he told the men his wallet was at an office in Oklahoma City in the 3600 block of NW 21, one of the men went to the office to get it and came back, the police report states.
The abductors then demanded Baxter to get in his car and they drove him to the intersection of N Cimarron Road and NW 10 where they forced him out and tied him to a dead tree, the report states. They also put a plastic poncho over his head and used duct tape on it. The men then drove off in his pickup, a white, 2019 Toyota Tundra.
Baxter said he managed to free himself from the tree in about 30 minutes and go for help.
A police officer took pictures of the scene at NW 10th/Cimarron and collected the bindings, poncho, straps, rope, and tape that were used to tie up Baxter.
At Baxter’s residence officers found the house ransacked. A police report states that every cabinet was left open, along with all the drawers in all the bedrooms. Every TV was gone from the home, the attic door was open, and tools were scattered around the garage floor.
“It appeared that the suspects were looking for something,” the police report states.
Baxter said he had known one of the abductors for 15 years, but he did not know the other man with the shotgun.
Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers at (405) 235-7300.
