GASTONIA, N.C. — A man accused of breaking into the Gaston County home of a woman who had a restraining order against him and raping her appeared in front of a judge Monday morning.
According to law enforcement officials, there were three children in the home during the attack.
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Omar Adams, 29, told the judge that the incident was a misunderstanding and even walked away angry during his bond hearing before returning a few seconds later.
Channel 9's Gaston County bureau reporter, Ken Lemon, was in the courtroom as Adams called the victim's name, begging her to "fix this."
"You lied on me. You need to come and fix this," Adams said
Officials said Adams kicked in the victim's front door Saturday, before raping and choking her until she couldn't breathe.
Deputies said the woman had previously filed a domestic violence order of protection against Adams.
Lemon got a copy of the domestic violence restraining order that detailed the ways Adams had hurt her.
The woman said Adams shoved her against a wall, punched her, slapped her, and threatened to shoot her.
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Deputies said they initially went to the home in Gastonia for a routine call for service to issue a subpoena to make sure she testified against Adams, and a woman at the door whispered, “Help me.”
"Eventually, she whispered to him, ‘Help me,’ and he went into investigative mode,” Standford said.
Gaston County Assistant Chief Gary Williams said the officer was in the right place at the right time.
"When you feel like you can save one person, that makes the job worth while," Williams said.
The officer noticed the door to the home had been kicked in and marks on the woman's neck, where he thought she may have been choked.
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(Omar Adams)
"We get that gut feeling from time to time and can read people pretty well,” said Sgt. Mickey Standford, with the Gaston County Sheriff’s Office.
Adams was arrested and charged with breaking and entering, first-degree rape, possession of cocaine and drug paraphernalia, kidnapping, violating the protective order and assault by strangulation.
"It's a classic case of, we never know what we're going to run into,” Standford said. “We think it's a simple case of handing someone a court date, making sure you're there, type of deal, and then it turns into, like you said, a possibly lifesaving incident."
The Sheriff's Office said this isn't the first time Adams has had a run-in with the law.
Deputies said they recognized Adams’ name from previous crimes, which also helped the responding deputy take quick action.
The judge set Adams' bond at $2 million and he has a probable cause hearing in a couple of weeks.
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