Police: NorCal Couple Chained, Tortured Boy
Boy ran into gym still wearing chain, padlock
Tuesday, Dec 2, 2008 | Updated 6:04 PM PST
Tracy Police Department
Michael Schumacher, 34, and Kelly Lau-Schumacher, 30, face charges of torture, kidnapping, false imprisonment, child endangerment and corporal injury to a child.
A Tracy couple face five charges, including torture and kidnapping, after a half-naked emaciated 17-year-old boy ran into a fitness center Monday afternoon with a chain wrapped around his ankle with a padlock on it, a Tracy police spokesman said.
Kelly Lau-Schumacher, 30, and Michael Schumacher, 34, face charges of torture, kidnapping, false imprisonment, child endangerment and corporal injury to a child, according to police spokesman Matt Robinson.
Witnesses were stunned when the 17-year-old ran into the In Shape City gym in downtown Tracy with a chain and padlock wrapped around his ankle. He had cuts and burns on his body.
Employees from the business alerted police and they came to question the boy. The boy did not know where he was at first, according to Robinson.
He eventually pinpointed a home and provided enough information for police to take the couple into custody, Robinson said.
The boy was taken to a hospital while two young children believed to be the couple's children were taken away by child protective services, Robinson said.
A search warrant was served at the couple's house overnight and evidence was pulled out that will be compiled for the San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office, according to Robinson.
Copyright Associated Press
Posted Friday, Jul 17, 2009 - 7:36 PM PST
