LORAIN – A 30-year-old Lorain man was arrested early Monday on charges of rape and kidnapping.

Tracey Henry Hale is accused of dragging the

20-year-old Lorain victim from her friend’s car to Hale’s  friend’s apartment in the 1000 block of Oberlin Ave. There, according to police, Hale’s friend let them inside and Hale raped the woman in one of the home’s bedrooms.

According to the police report, the victim was at home and had a fight with her roommate. She asked a friend who was also there to drive her to her family’s home in Elyria.

Hale also got in the car, but it was unclear whether he’d been in the victim’s apartment as well.

Instead of taking her to Elyria, however, the friend drove her to the area of West Eighth Street and Oberlin Avenue, saying he had things to do. That’s when Hale got out of the car and dragged the woman with him, Sgt. Mark Carpentiere said, adding that the driver left the scene.

The victim began screaming for help and was told by Hale to shut up, police said.

Hale knocked at one door and when no one answered, he knocked at another apartment and was let in.

The victim told Hale’s friend she wanted to go home and asked him to call police, but he “just stood there while Hale pulled (the victim) to a bedroom,” a police report stated.

Hale then raped the woman on a mattress on the floor of the bedroom while he covered her mouth with his hand because she was screaming for him to get off her, the report stated.

A witness told police he heard the victim, who police indicated smelled of an intoxicant and had slurred speech, yelling repeatedly.

After raping her, Hale got up and ran away, the victim told police.

Meanwhile, Hale’s friend told police he went into the bedroom and told Hale to get off of the woman, but the woman said he did nothing to help her.

During police interviews, the victim had to be secured in a cruiser for acting aggressively toward the male witness and telling him the assault “was all his fault.”

Hale was spotted by police walking in the area after the attack and was arrested. He remained in jail Friday on $100,000 bond. He has a preliminary hearing at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday in Lorain Municipal Court.

Contact Alicia Castelli at 329-7144 or acastelli@chroniclet.com.

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