Philadelphia

Man Who Owed Drug Debt Shot and Held Captive for 8 Days: Police

Police say they arrested one person in connection to the incident.

A man who police say stole crack cocaine a year ago was held hostage for more than a week and shot in the leg by several men who were trying to collect the drug debt he owed, according to investigators.

The ordeal began Friday, March 10 when a 41-year-old man went to a property on the 3500 block of Stouton Street to buy drugs, police said. When he arrived a 34-year-old suspect recognized him as a man who had stolen a bundle of crack cocaine from the block approximately one year ago, according to investigators. The 34-year-old then called several other men who arrived at the property to collect the drug debt that the 41-year-old owed them, police said. 

Five more men then arrived at the property armed with guns and held the 41-year-old man against his will inside the house. When the man tried to leave, one of the suspects, a 24-year-old man, shot him in the left shin, according to investigators. The group held the man inside the house and assaulted him for eight days, forcing him to work off the debt, police said. The man suffered a graze wound to his left shin that later became infected.

On Saturday the man managed to escape the house and notify police. He then led police to the home on Stouton Street where he had been held, investigators said. While they were on their way to the house, the man spotted the 34-year-old suspect walking on the 1800 block of Atlantic Street, according to police. The officers stopped the suspect and took him into custody.

The 41-year-old man was taken to Episcopal Hospital where he received treatment but later left against the advice of medical staff, police said. They have not yet released the identity of the 34-year-old suspect and continue to search for the other men involved.

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