Ask any parent what they would do if their child were trapped in a burning home and they would likely tell you that they would do anything to save their child, or die trying. That is exactly what step-father Ryan Miller was desperately trying to do before police forcibly prevented him by Tasing him, several times, while the child was remained inside the burning home.
Little Riley Rieser, who was only three years old, died of the injuries he sustained that day while stepdad Ryan Miller sat in a holding cell. Now, Miller is suing the city of Louisiana, Mo.
“He was my best friend,” Miller told the Louisiana Press Journal after the fire. “He was everybody’s best friend. If you would have met him, you would have loved him. He was the joy of my life.”
Miller, who was unable to get to the boy inside, attempted to find another way to get to the toddler through the exterior of the home. He had attempted to kick down the front door before police stopped him. Miller was so desperate to rescue his son, the police had to zap Miller three separate times including once while he was handcuffed – in order to prevent him from doing what police were unable or unwilling to do.
“I was hysterical, yes, because I wanted to save my son,” he told the newspaper.
Miller, not being charged with any crime, is suing the city for excessive, negligent infliction of emotional distress, wrongful death and false imprisonment, according to the March 12 suit obtained by Courthouse News.
“Officers Jeffrey Salois and William Harrison prevented Ryan Miller from entering the home to save his stepson Riley Rieser by forcibly moving and by repeatedly Tasing Ryan Miller, including once in the police cruiser as Riley Rieser was being removed from the home,” the lawsuit reads.
The child’s parents were taken to Memorial Medical Center’s burn unit in Springfield, Ill. Ryan Miller suffered burns to his chest, and Cathy Miller burned the cornea in one of her eyes. Both were released from the hospital the same day.
Family members agree that the cops were in the wrong and that he would have done anything to save the bubbly little boy.
“It’s just heartless. How could they be so heartless?” the boy’s aunt, Emily Miller, told KHQA-TV. “And while they all just stood around and waited for the fire department, what kind of police officer wouldn’t try and save a 3-year-old burning in a house?”
What kind of officer wouldn’t try to save a 3-year-old from a burning house? An officer that doesn’t have their own child in a burning house. There is no doubt that those officers would die trying to save their own children, and certainly wouldn’t be waiting for the fire department.
For those interested in helping the family, monetary donations may be sent to the Mercantile Bank in Louisiana, c/o Ryan Miller or the Riley Miller fund.
