Police: Florida man preliminarily charged with raping woman in Evansville
EVANSVILLE – A Florida man has been arrested and preliminarily charged with rape and strangulation after police say he attacked a woman at a West Side apartment complex.
Jerrode Stephone Barker, 33, of Tampa, was booked into the Vanderburgh County jail Saturday afternoon. According to an affidavit filed in the case, a woman told police that Barker choked her until she almost blacked out early Saturday morning after she refused to perform a sex act on him.
He's currently lodged in the Vanderburgh County jail in lieu of a $25,000 bond.
Police responded to the 350 block of Rosenberger Avenue just before 3 p.m. Saturday. A witness had reportedly called dispatch saying a man outside the apartments had a woman in a headlock.
When police arrived, they allegedly saw a man run into the apartments. The victim then met with detectives and took them into apartment. According to the affidavit, she told police that Barker "beat on her and choked her."
In a subsequent interview, she said Barker had raped her Saturday around 3 a.m. She told police she was on her couch when Barker asked her to perform a sex act on him.
"(The victim) told him she was not in the mood and did not want to," the affidavit states.
But according to the victim, Barker wouldn't let up and said, "What did I tell you about telling me no?" She said he put his hands around her throat and choked her until "things started going black," police wrote.
She then performed the sex act "under threat of him choking her again," and that they then had sex, the affidavit states.
Later that day, Barker hit her in the jaw while she was in the bathroom, she reportedly told police. When she attempted to leave the apartment, she said he tried to pull her back inside.
The witness who called dispatch told investigators she'd seen the woman come out of the apartment with Barker yelling after her. They said they then saw Barker pull her backwards by her hair and shove her into a car, prompting them to call police.
According to the affidavit, Barker denied getting physical with the victim. He reportedly told police they'd had sex the night before.
Police eventually placed Barker under arrest and found a plastic baggie of marijuana and "two brown joints," in his pockets, the affidavit states.
Barker faces preliminary charges of rape, strangulation, domestic battery and possession of marijuana, jail records say. His initial hearing is scheduled for Wednesday in Vanderburgh Circuit Court.
According to court records, if released, he's barred from going within 500 feet of the apartment.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Florida man preliminarily charged with raping woman in Evansville
