An Altoona couple face charges in the alleged kidnapping and rape of a man who owed drug money, police said Tuesday night.

Justin Keller, 34, and Tara Sprankle, 37, were arraigned on a list of charges Tuesday night stemming from an incident that Altoona police said started about 5 p.m. Monday when the 28-year-old victim stopped at Sprankle’s apartment at 310 Seventh St., Apt. 2.

Police said the alleged victim owed Sprankle $700 for drugs and for the next eight hours, he allegedly was handcuffed and taped to a folding chair and ultimately raped by Keller.

“This is one of the most disturbing and bizarre incidents that I’ve seen in my career, and all of the evidence and witness, victim and suspect statements corroborate the entire event,” Altoona police Sgt. Matthew Plummer said Tuesday night.

The alleged victim had planned to pay Sprankle on Monday and had stopped by about 5 p.m. to talk to her about it. Police said the two were talking in Sprankle’s bedroom when Keller, who is Sprankle’s boyfriend, allegedly pushed the man to the floor and handcuffed his hands behind his back.

Police said the pair then placed the man in a chair and taped his legs together around his ankles and told him he wasn’t leaving until Sprankle got her money.

According to police, the man was slapped, shot with a BB gun, had words written on his skin in black marker, was burned with cigarettes and eventually sodomized by Keller when Sprankle left the apartment to try to get money from the victim’s father.

The man was released about 1 a.m. Tuesday and called police about 2 a.m. Plummer said the man was treated at UPMC Altoona for significant injuries and a sexual assault kit was performed at the hospital.

“As an officer, it’s something you don’t want to believe,” Plummer said. “Unfortunately, every detail discovered during the investigation confirmed the gruesome acts that took place.”

Police said both Sprankle and Keller admitted to handcuffing and taping the man but neither admitted the man was sexually assaulted.

Another witness who was at the apartment for a time told police she heard the man moaning and making noises as if he was hurt while he was bound in the bedroom with Keller and another man identified as “Boog.”

Police said charges are likely to be filed against “Boog” and that Sprankle said “Boog” was at the apartment for an hour or so to help watch the victim while she was out trying to get money from his father.

Keller allegedly told police Sprankle shot the man about nine times with a BB gun and the woman who had been at the apartment also told police she saw Sprankle shoot the man.

“That was a good one; it embedded,” Sprankle allegedly said. “How does that feel?”

Police said a search of Keller’s car and Sprankle’s apartment turned up evidence. Sprankle, who was at her apartment with her two children when police showed up with a search warrant, allegedly told officers the handcuffs were in a cabinet and that she had a folding knife in her bra and a pair of brass knuckles in the pocket of her hooded sweatshirt when she was taken into custody.

Police said both Keller and Sprankle had pills on them when they were arrested and Keller was also in possession of a suspected methamphetamine pipe.

Officers recovered two pistol BB guns, two rolls of tape, two strands of tape with hair stuck to them and a folding chair from the apartment, Plummer said.

In an odd twist, Plummer said Keller and Sprankle showed up at the Altoona Police Department handcuffed to each other about two weeks ago and had asked for help in unlocking the handcuffs.

Both Keller and Sprankle were arraigned Tuesday night by Magisterial District Judge Daniel DeAntonio, who set bail at $350,000 cash for Keller and $250,000 cash for Sprankle. Both face charges that include felony robbery and kidnapping, and Keller is also charged with several sex crimes, including felony rape.

They remain in jail with a preliminary hearing scheduled for May 15 at Central Court.