Updated 2 pm, Tuesday
Edgartown Police Saturday arrested Adam M. Smith of Berkeley, California on rape charges. The 27-year-old is accused of raping a 30-year-old woman he met at a bar earlier and invited back to a rental house located on Mercier Way in the Katama section of town.
Police arrested Mr. Smith at 7:45 am, Saturday morning and charged him with three counts of rape, threats to commit a crime (murder), and intimidation of a witness. He was held at the Dukes County House of Correction on $100,000 bail.
Mr. Smith was arraigned in Edgartown District Court Tuesday morning. Bail was set at $25,000 and the case was continued to October 30.
The woman told police that she and her friends had met a group of men in town Friday evening and were invited back to their rental house after the bar had closed.
“At the house the female victim went into a bedroom alone with the assailant,” Lieutenant Chris Dolby said in a press release issued Monday afternoon. “At some point, the female victim became uncomfortable with the situation and tried to leave the bedroom. She reported that she was then held down and raped. When she was able to leave the room she reported that her assailant told her that he had a gun or guns in the house and would kill her if she told anyone about the incident.”
Police were called at approximately 1:42 am, Saturday. When the investigating officers arrived at Mercier Way they located the woman who was being assisted by two female friends. “The 30-year-old female was emotionally distraught and reported to officers that she had been raped in a nearby residence,” according to police. She was transported by ambulance to Martha’s Vineyard Hospital where she was later interviewed by police.
Based on information the woman and her friends provided, police identified the assailant as Adam M. Smith of Berkeley, CA. “A background check into Smith revealed a past incident where he made a threatening Facebook post to kill police officers by ‘blowing their brains out,’” police said.
Based on the reported threats made against the victim and his history police called on the Tactical Response Team (TRT) for assistance with securing the residence and taking the suspect into custody.
The TRT, formed in 2009 under the auspices of the Martha’s Vineyard Law Enforcement Council, includes officers from all Island police departments and is intended to provide Island communities with a flexible and effective response to unconventional and high-risk law enforcement incidents. For example, in serving high-risk searches, where a warrant has been issued and the suspect is believed to be violent or likely to use weapons.
