Police: Man chained to pole had left home before

Associated Press

Last update: November 4, 2009 - 3:13 PM

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. - Police were investigating Wednesday how often a mentally disabled man had been chained to a pole in the basement of his home, and said they had reports of the man walking away from the family in the past.

It's possible the man was being tied up to keep him from running away, Eau Claire Police St. Bill Slaggie said.

Police were called to a convenience store Monday night and found the 21-year-old man walking around barefoot with heavy chains around his ankles that were padlocked, Slaggie said.

"He had left the house and had walked to the convenience store. The employees contacted us," Slaggie said. "He had some minor injuries, some of them the result of the chains being around his feet and from him walking barefoot."

According to court records used to obtain a warrant to search the man's home, he told investigators he had been beaten by his father and two other men with a wooden stick on Monday and one of them punched him with a boxing glove, the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram reported Wednesday.

The man, who spoke limited English and was described by family members as having the skills of a third- or fourth-grader, said he went to the convenience store because he wanted to escape to a friend's home to avoid future beatings, the court documents said. The man told officers he was frequently chained to the pole, where he slept on the floor.

"We do have reports involving the same person walking away from the family in the past," Slaggie said. "We are trying to determine what was going on in the house."

His 57-year-old mother and 48-year-old father were arrested on suspicion of false imprisonment, a felony, Slaggie said. They each posted $500 cash bonds following an appearance Tuesday in Chippewa County Circuit Court. No charges were filed Wednesday and none were expected this week, District Attorney John Theisen's office said. The couple's initial court appearance is set for Dec. 8.

The Associated Press is not naming the man because his parents have not been charged.

A message left at the mother's home was not immediately returned Wednesday. Police listed the father with a different address and there was no telephone listing for him.

Slaggie said workers at the Direct Store, the convenience shop where the man was found, were familiar with him. "The information we have is he had been out in the community recently without the chains and later in the day he arrived at the gas station with the chains," Slaggie said.

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Information from: Leader-Telegram, http://www.leadertelegram.com

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