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Illinois man chained relative to pole in basement to keep him ‘from running away,’ police say

ROCKDALE, Ill. — An Illinois man is accused of chaining a relative with psychiatric issues to a pole in a basement bedroom to prevent him from running away, authorities said.

Dwayne Ned Jones, 59, was charged with a felony count of unlawful restraint, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. He was released after posting $75,000 bail, the newspaper reported.

Rockdale police Chief Robert Dykstra said officers responded to a home in Rockdale on Friday after receiving an anonymous tip, according to the Sun-Times.

Police found a 56-year-old man shackled on his ankle by a 3-foot chain attached to a pole, the Joliet Herald-News reported. The man, who Dykstra said was related to Jones, had been chained for two weeks, the Sun-Times reported.

“He had a single-sized mattress, one sheet, a pillow and a milk jug to urinate in,” Dykstra told reporters. “When that was filled, he urinated on the floor.”

The man’s previous caregiver, also a relative, died a few weeks ago and Jones began watching the man, Dykstra told the Herald-News.

Dykstra said Jones decided that chaining the man "was the appropriate away to prevent him from running away.”

The man was taken to a hospital and is “doing well,” police said.

Jones also faces a misdemeanor charge of domestic battery, the Sun-Times reported. His wife and their adult children also live at the home but were not charged, the Herald-News reported.

“Chaining them is not the way to care for them,” Dykstra told the Sun-Times.