A man faces rape charges after sexually assaulting two people inside a Gary home.
Thomas West, 36, of Calumet Park, Illinois, who is also known as Sheldon Williams, was charged Tuesday with multiple felonies. He is in custody, held without bond.
He faces two counts of rape, both Level 3 felonies; one count of criminal confinement, a Level 5 felony; one count of strangulation, a Level 6 felony; one count of intimidation, a Level 6 felony; one count of intimidation, a Level 6 felony; and two counts of criminal confinement, a Level 6 felony.
Gary Police responded April 14 to a home in the city’s Midtown section where they heard a woman yelling and her male relative was down the street.
A man named “Cash” assaulted them, the victims stated in court records.
The victims told police West was drinking at the house that day. He left for a while, then went back for his glasses.
West went into a bedroom, shut the lights, took off his pants and asked the male victim if he wanted to make $500, the affidavit states. The man refused, then Cash threatened to kill him and forced him to perform a sex act.
He then went into the man’s female relative’s room, records state. The man ran out and called the police.
The female victim later told police that West earlier asked if she “wanted to make $100” for performing a sex act. She declined.
When he went into her room, he choked her, pinned her on the bed, then forced her to perform a sex act. Court records state that he told her to stop screaming, or the cops would find her “dead body.”
“You gonna do what … I say,” he told her.
As police arrived, he said to tell them they were “just playing around”, the affidavit alleges.
Both victims said they knew “Thomas” from the neighborhood. The woman knew him as “Cash” or “Lemon.”
