Aunt Arrested in Case of Shackled Teen

Chuck Ellis, the district manager for In-Shape Health Clubs, was one of the first people to come to the teen's aid. Some witnesses said the boy had jumped over a fence to get to the fitness center, according to local reports.

Tracy, Calif. police have arrested Michael Schumacher, his wife, Kelly Lau Schumacher, and Caren...

Tracy, Calif. police have arrested Michael Schumacher, his wife, Kelly Lau Schumacher, and Caren Ramirez in the case of a 17-year-old bloodied with bruises, clad only in flesh-colored boxer shorts and shackled at the ankle when he arrived at a local gym.

(Tracy Police Department/AP Photo)

"It was rather shocking. I mean you couldn't believe when we saw him, he was very thin, very small in stature for when we found out what his age was, it was very surprising," Ellis said. "We thought he was 10 or 13 years old."

Ellis said the teen pleaded with staff to hide him, worried that his captors would come after him.

"You could tell that he was injured. He had cuts on his arms, on his back. [He was] totally terrified. The look in his eyes was just unbelievable. I've never seen [anything like that,]" Ellis said. "He was covered in dirt, kind of like a soot that was all over him."

"I was just horrified how he looked with the cuts and everything but then to see a chain wrapped around his ankle," Ellis said. "It was unbelievable."

Related

WATCH: Child Taken From Home at Gun Point

Foster Teen Abuse

Ellis said the teenager told him that he was picked up after running away from the foster home to look for his family and that he was held for almost a year.

Police said the boy's left ankle was padlocked with a chain and his leg appeared to be cut. He didn't know where he was but knew his name and birthday.

They took the boy to Sutter Tracy Community Hospital, where he was treated for cuts and "other injuries," some of which may have been from sexual abuse, according to police.

"We want to make sure he gets the proper medical attention necessary," said Robinson.

Hospital spokeswoman Karen Mudd would not provide any other details to ABCNews.com and said the boy was being held in "protective services."

After interviewing the boy, police determined he had been kept at a house "down the street" and knocked on the door of the Schumachers, interviewing the couple and arresting them. By midnight, police had obtained a search warrant for the house and pressed charges.

Police continue to interview Kelly Lau-Schumacher, while her husband is in custody at the San Joaquin County jail. The couple will appear in court Dec. 4.