SMYRNA, DE - The Smyrna Police Department has announced the arrest of a man on multiple charges including rape and unlawful imprisonment in relation to an incident in late May.
Police say they were contacted on June 1st in reference to a sexual assault that occurred on May 31st at a home on Lawn Drive. Investigators learned that James Wheeler, 34, was visiting an apartment when he allegedly produced a knife and raped a victim, according to investigators. The victim’s family members arrived to stop him, police say, and Wheeler fled in an unknown direction.
An arrest warrant was obtained and police located and arrested Wheeler on June 2nd in Dover. He has been taken to the Sussex Correctional Institute in lieu of $174,0000 cash bond on numerous charges including rape, possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony, aggravated menacing, first degree unlawful imprisonment, and terroristic threatening.