A man has claimed that a couple forced him to wear a shock collar and broke his front teeth during a months-long torture ordeal.
Police said the unnamed man had a number of injuries when officers found him hiding in bushes near a house in Inkster, Michigan, on October 22. He was later taken to hospital.
According to Fox 2 Detroit, he told police at the hospital that he had been tortured and severely beaten by a couple he had known for years at a house in Burton Street.
They had offered him the chance to sleep on their sofa in exchange for $400 dollars a month after he found himself homeless, the station reported. But, he said, they had taken every paycheck from him since he moved in until he managed to escape.
He told detectives that they had put a shock collar on him and whipped him with extension cords, and on another occasion he was allegedly forced to chew on a towel soaked in dog urine.
He also alleged that his hand was forced into boiling water and that he was hit in the face with a board, leaving his front teeth broken.
Couple face torture charge
A couple, named by police as 38-year-old Vera Miller and 30-year-old Corey Hill, both of Inkster, have been charged with torture, unlawful imprisonment and assault offences. They have both pleaded not guilty.
The alleged victim said he had known Miller for 11 years and Hill for six years.
He told detectives they would occasionally give him a bologna sandwich during his months-long ordeal, in which which the couple would occasionally drive with him in the backseat with the child locks activated.
He told police that when the couple went into a store, they would take his pants and shoes leaving one of their children to make sure he stayed in the vehicle.
When the man was examined, police found the victim had scars, bruises, blisters, burns, cuts and scabs on his body including face, chest, legs and stomach.
He also had three teeth missing and his right hand was blistered, scabbed, and peeling, police said.
