Alexandria man arrested after terrifying abduction and rape in West End apartment

A 53-year-old Alexandria man is being held without bond after a woman was abducted and repeatedly raped in a West End apartment.

The incident occurred on the evening of Thursday, May 12.

The woman told police that she met Gerald Dmitri Palmer in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C. earlier that night, and then took a bus back to Palmer’s apartment in the unit block of South Van Dorn Street — near the intersection with Duke Street.

“The victim stated that they drank some chardonnay wine out of cans and were going to watch a movie, but Mr. Palmer turned on pornography and she became confused,” police said in a search warrant affidavit.

The victim told police that she then tried to leave, but that Palmer then allegedly grabbed her and raped her. She told police that he forced her into his bedroom and tied her hands and feet with zip ties, and that he raped her “multiple times throughout the night,” police said in a search warrant affidavit.

“While interviewing the victim, Detectives observed ligature marks on her wrists, consistent with being zip tied,” police said in a search warrant affidavit.

On Friday morning, the victim reported that Palmer cut the zip ties to her hands from a pair of scissors in a dresser drawer, and then left the apartment. The victim said that she took those same scissors and cut the zip ties around her ankles. She told police that she found her shoes and a T-shirt to wear and then fled the apartment.

Police found Palmer nearby, and he told them that he knew the victim and that they had consensual sex, according to a search warrant. Palmer was arrested and charged with rape, abduction with intent to defile and strangulation resulting in injury. He goes to court on June 24.