Police authorities announced the arrest of a fourth person
in the case of the kidnapped teen who escaped from his captors wearing only
boxer shorts and a shackle on his ankle.
The fourth person is 29-year-old Anthony Waiters. He was put
under arrest on Thursday and faces a number of charges including torture and
false imprisonment according to police authorities in Tracy,
California (approximately 70 miles east of San Francisco.)
The 16-year-old teen escaped from captivity on December 1
and made it to a nearby gym in Tracy.
He was terrified, had a chain locked to his ankle, was covered in what appeared
to be cloth and wanted to hide because he thought the kidnappers were after
him. The teen showed up at the In-Shape Sports Club in Tracy.
"He said, 'Don't let them get me, don't let them get
me,'" gym manager Chuck Ellis said. "He was totally terrified."
The other three persons arrested in this case are Caren
Ramirez, 43, Kelly Layne Lau, 30, and her husband, Michael Luther Schumacher,
34. Police officials did not give details about Waiters and how he is connected
to the other three or the case.
Police investigators said the teen boy was shackled in the
home of Lau, a Girl Scout leader, and Schumacher. The boy was held captive for
about a year and was tortured with a bat, knife and belt. The couple used a
home about 500 feet from the fitness center to hold the boy captive. The teen
apparently jumped over a wall when he escaped and made it onto the gym center’s
property.
Lau and Schumacher are the main suspects in this case and
are being held at the San Joaquin
County jail in lieu of
bail of nearly $1.2 million each.
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