NEWS

Man survives 'pure torture' after drug deal gone wrong

Gazette staff

CHILLICOTHE – Police believe a Ross County man was tortured last week over a drug debt and ended up in a hospital.

As a result, Chillicothe police are looking for any information the public may have about the incident.

"It was just pure torture, that's what it was," said Police Chief Keith Washburn, who released the information Tuesday.

Police were called to Adena Medical Center at about noon Friday after the victim, a 41-year-old man, was brought to the emergency room by his mother. He told doctors he was assaulted the previous Wednesday.

The victim told police he went to a West Fifth Street house to buy drugs and was almost immediately overwhelmed by the suspect, whom police are not naming at this time. He was bound with Duct tape and placed inside a duffel bag and taken away from the house to another house, this one on South Mulberry Street.

"From there, two — possibly three — people assaulted him," Washburn said. The report details injuries to the man's face, torso, buttocks and genital region. He told an officer that he was "punched, kicked, assaulted with a broom, possibly raped with the broom, burned with lighter fluid, silverware heated from the stove and boiling water," according to the report.

The report also said the victim suffered second-degree burns.

A day later, the man told police he was able to escape the South Mulberry Street home and went into hiding for nearly a day.

Police believe the victim owed the suspects money. "It appears to be a drug debt of some kind, either he ripped them off or owed them money," Washburn said.

A detective working the case has suspects, the chief said. The Gazette does not generally name victims of crime.

The victim was treated at Adena, but the report said he was set to be transported to another hospital with a burn unit. A check of Columbus hospitals could not locate a patient with the same name as the victim, but police say his injuries were not life-threatening.