Man says he was held hostage, sexually assaulted

Adrian Atwater, 34, was being sought on charges of second-degree kidnapping, second-degree sex offense and felony strangulation.

An unidentified man went to the management office of Merriwood Apartments, on Merriwood Drive off SE Maynard Road, at about 9:30 a.m. to call for help, said Lt. John Szymeczek of the Cary Police Department.

According to a 911 call, the man identified himself as a woman to both the apartment manager and the 911 dispatcher and said that he had been held against his will in his apartment since about 1:30 a.m.

The man told investigators that he had been locked in the bedroom and that a man he knew physically and sexually assaulted him, Szymeczek said.

"(He) kept me in my apartment for nine hours. He's beat me, and he raped me as well," the man told the 911 dispatcher. "He went to go to the bathroom, and I ran."

Neighbor Phyllis Dagata said she heard a commotion coming from the apartment during the night.

"To me, it sounded like a man and a woman, but maybe it was two men," Dagata said. "I heard him say, 'Don't do nothing stupid. Don't hurt me.' I thought the person was a girl (who) said, 'No, you hurt me.' I don't exactly know what it was, but it was crazy."

Neighbor John Coale said it was clear the man had been attacked.

"Somebody had beat up another guy, and really (did) a number on him," Coale said. "We've had some disturbances (at the complex before), but nothing like what happened (Tuesday)."

The man was taken to WakeMed Cary Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

Atwater was released from prison on Sept. 4 after serving nine months for a Wake County conviction on assault by strangulation, felony breaking and entering and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill charges, according to state Department of Correction records.

He also was convicted in Durham County in 2002 of felonious restraint, assault on a female, assault with a deadly weapon and communicating threats and in Guilford County in 1999 of assault on a female and communicating threats, records show.