An Indiana man says he was invited to a home for some food and drugs but ended up chained in the basement where he was tortured and waterboarded, WSBT-TV reports.
On Thursday, authorities in South Bend announced charges stemming from the brutal assault, which allegedly occurred on March 22.
The victim told investigators that one of the suspects offered him an invitation to a residence to eat and do heroin, but once he was inside the home, four people ambushed him.
Two of the individuals had guns and one of them pointed a firearm at the man threatening to shoot him. The gunman allegedly fired a shot over the victim’s head.
The victim alleged that he was forced into the basement and was bound with chains, cords, and ropes. The suspects then beat him using wood and an electrical cord, waterboarded him and burned him with a cigar, according to a press release from the South Bend Police Department.
One suspect is accused of wrapping the electrical cord around the victim’s neck and strangling him as part of the torture, which lasted for more than five hours until the man escaped to a neighboring home and called police.
Responding officers found the man with the electrical cord still wrapped around his neck. He also had a shirt that the alleged perpetrators used to gag him.
The victim was treated at a hospital for multiple injuries.
Upon investigation, police arrested 35-year-old Robert Hollins IV, 24-year-old Eddie Guyton and 26-year-old Alexus Guerrero, who collectively have been charged with various crimes related to robbery, criminal confinement, intimidation, strangulation, battery and unlawful use of a weapon. The trio are being held at the St. Joseph County Jail.
Police did not release information about a fourth suspect but said the investigation is still unfolding.
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[Feature Photo: Robert Hollins IV, Eddie Guyton and Alexus Guerrero/South Bend Police Department]
