Man charged with raping family member – State’s first update

Investigators with the Smyrna Police Department (SPD) recently arrested a 34-year-old man for the armed rape and sexual assault of one of his family members.

Officials said on June 1, 2024, SPD officers were dispatched to the home of a resident in the 100 block of Lawn Drive because a sexual assault had occurred the previous day. Detectives arrived at the scene and took over the investigation. They found that 34-year-old James Wheeler was visiting a family member at the residence on Saturday.

That afternoon, Wheeler and his family member were alone in the apartment. Officials said Wheeler pulled out a knife and raped and sexually assaulted the victim until other family members came home and disturbed him. Wheeler fled the scene in an unknown direction.

Detectives obtained arrest warrants for Wheeler and with the assistance of Dover Police, Wheeler was located and taken into custody in Dover two days later.

He was transferred to the custody of SPD detectives where he was formally charged with first degree rape, possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony, aggravated menacing, possession of a deadly weapon by a prohibited person, first degree false imprisonment, terroristic threatening, and incest.

Wheeler was brought before Justice of the Peace No. 2 via videophone and remanded to the Sussex Correctional Institute, where he was held on $174,000 bail pending a future court hearing.