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In an apparent act of retaliation for an alleged burglary, a Lincoln man and his co-defendant kidnapped and tortured a man and his female friend late Thursday night, holding them captive in a local warehouse for 12 hours, police alleged in gruesome court records filed Monday.

A 26-year-old man told Lincoln Police he was "beaten, burned with a blowtorch and branded" with the word "thief" after he was ambushed by two men amid a drug deal Thursday night, Lincoln Police Investigator Christopher Schamber said in an arrest affidavit.

A 26-year-old man told Lincoln Police he was "beaten, burned with a blowtorch and branded" with the word "thief" after he was ambushed by two men amid a drug deal at a warehouse near Interstate 80 and 56th Street, Investigator Christopher Schamber said in an arrest affidavit.

The next morning, authorities found the tortured man — still handcuffed — walking near the Gage County line, about 30 minutes south of Lincoln.

In an interview with investigators, the victim identified 30-year-old Tanner Danielson, of Lincoln, and 26-year-old Austin Widhalm, of Hickman, as the men responsible for the alleged attack and torture, Schamber said in the affidavit.

Widhalm was arrested Friday afternoon in Lincoln, and Danielson was arrested Monday afternoon in Rapid City, South Dakota, Lincoln Police Chief Teresa Ewins said at a Monday afternoon news conference.

Both men have been charged in Lancaster County with a string of felonies, including first-degree assault, two counts of first-degree false imprisonment and use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony.

Danielson was also charged with first-degree sexual assault of the woman who was held captive, according to court filings.

"Let me just be clear: one of the reasons why we wanted to come before you is to let the public know that there was a relationship between all these people," Ewins told reporters Monday. "We don't know to what degree, but it is not random. And so we want everyone to understand that this is not random."

In an interview with investigators at a Beatrice hospital Friday, the male victim told police he was struck by a wrench and handcuffed near 56th Street and Interstate 80 at about 11 p.m. Thursday after he and his female acquaintance had gone there to buy cocaine, Schamber said.

For the next several hours, he told police, the man was handcuffed to a table or had his wrists hoisted in the air as he was tortured, Schamber said. Police noted the man had two black eyes and brand marks on his face, arms and legs.

The victim accused Danielson of putting a semi-automatic handgun into the victim's mouth and threatening to kill him, according to the affidavit. Danielson later put a tab of LSD into the man's mouth and made him eat it, but the victim told police he spit much of it out and vomited.

And, at some point, investigators allege Danielson sexually assaulted the woman — who wasn't otherwise tortured but told police she was held against her will and threatened — after escorting her to the warehouse's bathroom, Schamber said.

It's unclear how Danielson and Widhalm accessed the warehouse, a detail Ewins said "is a part of the ongoing investigation." 

Danielson drove the woman home from the warehouse, noting her address and threatening to kill her if she reported the incident to law enforcement, the woman later told police. She did not report the crime.

After hours of torture, the male victim said Danielson and Widhalm bound him and taped his mouth shut before driving him to rural Gage County, where they tied him to a tree, Schamber said.

When the two men left him bound there, he said they warned him that if he wasn't still there Monday, they would kill his family.

Then, the men left in the victim's vehicle, which investigators later found outside Widhalm's home in Hickman.

The victim eventually freed himself and left the area walking until he found a Gage County sheriff's deputy. He was taken to a local hospital, where he was treated for his injuries.

See how your hometown ranks among the most dangerous cities in Nebraska. Ratings have been determined according to the number of violent crimes per 1,000 people in cities of at least 10,000, with violent crime being classified as murder, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault. The numbers are for 2019, the most recent year for which the FBI provides data.

With 30 violent crimes in 2019 and a population of 12,771 (the smallest on our list), the city in northeast Nebraska had 2.35 violent crimes per 1,000 people.

Photo: An RV park in South Sioux City on the Missouri River. 

The city of 15,862 had 53 violent crimes for a rate of 3.34 per 1,000 in 2019.

Photo: Gering Police Officer Jordan McBride talks with Scottsbluff Police Officer Michael Modeac as he puts up crime scene tape at the scene of an armed standoff in Scottsbluff in June 2021. 

With a population of 23,705 and 89 violent crimes, the city had a rate of 3.75 per 1,000.

Photo: Union Pacific train engines line up outside a service building in North Platte.

The Star City had a population of 291,128 with 1,115 violent crimes, a rate of 3.83 per 1,000.

Photo: Police in Lincoln investigate a shooting near the intersection of 14th and E streets in August 2019. 

With a population of 51,821 and 236 violent crimes, the largest of the Tri Cities had a 2019 rate of 4.55 per 1,000 people.

Photo: Grand Island police and State Patrol personnel investigate after a body was found in a Grand Island yard in August 2020. 

In 2019, the state's largest city at 470,481 people had 2,833 violent crimes for a rate of 6.13 per 1,000.

Photo: Omaha police and University Police guard the entrance to the Nebraska Medicine Emergency room after an Omaha police officer was shot at Westroads Mall in March 2021. 

With eight violent crimes in 2019, Boys Town topped the state at 13.82 per 1,000 people, which is a misleading stat because it only had a 2019 population of 579.

Photo: The statue at the entrance to Boys Town. It doesn't take much to skew the numbers. 

Reach the writer at 402-473-7223 or awegley@journalstar.com.

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A Kansas City, Missouri, native, Andrew Wegley joined the Journal Star as breaking news reporter after graduating from Northwest Missouri State University in May 2021.

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One man died and two other people were injured in a three-vehicle crash near Beemer.

A 42-year-old Gering man drowned Friday at Lake Minatare State Recreation Area near Minatare, according to information released by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.

A 26-year-old man told Lincoln Police he was "beaten, burned with a blowtorch and branded" with the word "thief" after he was ambushed by two men amid a drug deal at a warehouse near Interstate 80 and 56th Street, Investigator Christopher Schamber said in an arrest affidavit.

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