Ripken finds victim on porch

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REISTERSTOWN, Md. -- A 20-year-old man, naked and bleeding from a gunshot wound to the back, showed up Thanksgiving evening at the home of retired Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken, saying he had been kidnapped and pleading for help, police said.

Brian Robins, 20, of Baltimore, was found outside Mr. Ripken's home north of Baltimore shortly after 9 p.m. Thursday and was taken by helicopter to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, police said.

Mr. Robins was released early yesterday, hospital officials said.

"This was obviously an unusual and upsetting situation for me and my family, but I did what any other person would do given the circumstances," Mr. Ripken said in a statement. "I called the police, and they responded immediately, and it is now in their hands."

Ripken spokesman John Maroon talked to Mr. Ripken yesterday and said he and his family were OK.

"My understanding is it was a coincidence that he ended up at Cal's house," Mr. Maroon said. "He was looking for the first house because he was obviously injured and scared and looking for help."

Mr. Robins told police that at about noon on Thanksgiving Day he was kidnapped near his home in downtown Baltimore by three men driving a white Lexus.

The men held him captive for nine hours, driving to various locations in the city for an unknown reason, Baltimore County police spokesman Shawn Vinson said.

At some point, Mr. Robins said he was forced into the trunk of the car and driven into Baltimore County, Mr. Vinson said.

Mr. Robins told police the men stopped in a secluded, rural section of the county, and ordered him to take off his clothes and run. Mr. Robins told police he heard several shots as he was running and was struck once in the back.

Shortly before 9 p.m., a passing motorist called police to report a naked man running into a wooded area. A few minutes later, police received a call from the Ripken household, according to a police report that did not identify Mr. Ripken by name.

"The homeowner called and said there was a man banging on his door, and he didn't know what was going on," Mr. Vinson said. "He called back a short time later and said the victim appeared to have been shot."

Police found Mr. Robins on Mr. Ripken's porch. Mr. Vinson said officers followed a trail of blood that led from the porch, over a fence, and to a spot near an intersection, where they found more blood.

County police are investigating the incident as a shooting and kidnapping with assistance from Baltimore police, Mr. Vinson said.