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TRACY, Calif. (AP) — After being held for nearly a year, a 17-year-old boy stole a moment away from the watchful eyes of his captors to climb out a window in their home while shackled and bruised and jump a backyard fence in search of help, police said.
The boy’s alleged imprisonment and abuse by a Tracy couple was still being investigated but authorities said Wednesday interviews with the boy were making details of his escape clearer.
Law enforcement officials were hopeful the arrest of a third suspect in the case, identified as the boy’s aunt and one-time guardian, also would help uncover the mystery of how the boy ended up at the home and what his relationship was with the couple, who have been booked on suspicion of torture, kidnapping and other charges.
The boy detailed his getaway to investigators saying he had been chained inside a sport utility vehicle that pulled up to the home, and after going inside, he climbed through a rear window and jumped the tall fence between the backyard and a fitness center.
“He found his opportunity and he took it. It’s basically luck that this all occurred,” Tracy police spokesman Matt Robinson said.
The boy, emaciated, nearly naked and shackled to a chain, limped into the gym Monday terrified and begging to be hidden, police said.
Authorities would not say whether the boy was chained up regularly or where the boy may have been held in the home. They said they haven’t determined how often he was allegedly beaten or tortured but that he appeared at the gym with cuts, bruises and burns across his body.
The boy’s aunt, Caren Ramirez, 43, was arrested late Tuesday after police received a tip she was in Berkeley.
Police had been looking for Ramirez after they arrested Kelly Layne Lau, 30, and her husband Michael Schumacher, 34, earlier Tuesday. Lau and Schumacher were in jail in lieu of bail set at nearly $1.2 million each.
The couple was set to appear in court Thursday and Ramirez as early as Monday. Authorities said none of the three had attorneys. The connection between Ramirez and the couple was being investigated.
Ramirez had become the teen’s guardian after child-welfare officials took him from his abusive father three or four years ago, police said.
Last year, Ramirez pleaded no contest to one felony count of beating the boy, according to court documents.
Police reports referenced in the court filings said investigators responding to reports of abuse in May 2006 found the boy with severe bruising on his buttocks, legs and arms and a split, swollen lip.
Ramirez used “martial arts sticks” to spank him and had hit him in the past with a spatula, broomstick and a clothes hanger, the boy told investigators.
Ramirez was sentenced to five years probation, which was revoked and a warrant issued for her arrest after she failed to appear at an April court hearing.
After Ramirez was arrested on the abuse charge, the boy was placed in a group foster home in Sacramento. He fled the home in May 2007, according to court documents.
— Marcus Wohlsen reported from San Francisco. Associated Press writer Juliet Williams in Sacramento, AP researchers Monika Mathur and Barbara Sambriski in New York and AP videographer Haven Daley contributed to this report.
The boy’s alleged imprisonment and abuse by a Tracy couple was still being investigated but authorities said Wednesday interviews with the boy were making details of his escape clearer.
Law enforcement officials were hopeful the arrest of a third suspect in the case, identified as the boy’s aunt and one-time guardian, also would help uncover the mystery of how the boy ended up at the home and what his relationship was with the couple, who have been booked on suspicion of torture, kidnapping and other charges.
The boy detailed his getaway to investigators saying he had been chained inside a sport utility vehicle that pulled up to the home, and after going inside, he climbed through a rear window and jumped the tall fence between the backyard and a fitness center.
“He found his opportunity and he took it. It’s basically luck that this all occurred,” Tracy police spokesman Matt Robinson said.
The boy, emaciated, nearly naked and shackled to a chain, limped into the gym Monday terrified and begging to be hidden, police said.
Authorities would not say whether the boy was chained up regularly or where the boy may have been held in the home. They said they haven’t determined how often he was allegedly beaten or tortured but that he appeared at the gym with cuts, bruises and burns across his body.
The boy’s aunt, Caren Ramirez, 43, was arrested late Tuesday after police received a tip she was in Berkeley.
Police had been looking for Ramirez after they arrested Kelly Layne Lau, 30, and her husband Michael Schumacher, 34, earlier Tuesday. Lau and Schumacher were in jail in lieu of bail set at nearly $1.2 million each.
The couple was set to appear in court Thursday and Ramirez as early as Monday. Authorities said none of the three had attorneys. The connection between Ramirez and the couple was being investigated.
Ramirez had become the teen’s guardian after child-welfare officials took him from his abusive father three or four years ago, police said.
Last year, Ramirez pleaded no contest to one felony count of beating the boy, according to court documents.
Police reports referenced in the court filings said investigators responding to reports of abuse in May 2006 found the boy with severe bruising on his buttocks, legs and arms and a split, swollen lip.
Ramirez used “martial arts sticks” to spank him and had hit him in the past with a spatula, broomstick and a clothes hanger, the boy told investigators.
Ramirez was sentenced to five years probation, which was revoked and a warrant issued for her arrest after she failed to appear at an April court hearing.
After Ramirez was arrested on the abuse charge, the boy was placed in a group foster home in Sacramento. He fled the home in May 2007, according to court documents.
— Marcus Wohlsen reported from San Francisco. Associated Press writer Juliet Williams in Sacramento, AP researchers Monika Mathur and Barbara Sambriski in New York and AP videographer Haven Daley contributed to this report.
