Inset: Derrick C. Adams (Kent County Correctional Facility). Background: The Michigan home where Adams allegedly held his girlfriend captive (WOOD).
A 36-year-old man in Michigan is accused of holding his girlfriend captive and torturing her for days, allegedly beating, strangling and waterboarding her until she escaped at a shopping mall.
Derrick Christopher Adams was taken into custody and charged with one count each of torture, unlawful imprisonment and assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, court records show.
According to a probable cause affidavit, officers with the Grand Rapids Police Department responded to the victim”s home on Sept. 18 after she called 911 to report a domestic assault. The victim — who had just been released from the hospital and had visible bruising on her arms, legs and abdomen — identified Adams as her assailant.
Adams and the victim had been in an “on-again, off-again” relationship for about four years, the affidavit states.
The alleged ordeal began Sept. 16 at Adams’ home in Grand Rapids after the victim received a call from her incarcerated male cousin. She said Adams became upset because he believed she was talking to an ex-boyfriend, then took her phone and began going through her calls and messages.
“Derrick would assault her every time he found something he didn’t like on her phone,” the affidavit states.
The woman said Adams then subjected her to physical and emotional torture.
“Shortly after the assault began, she said Derrick made her strip completely naked and lay on the bedroom floor while he left to retrieve a jug of water,” the affidavit states. “She described the jug as a clear ‘Kool-Aid’ jug with a blue top and clear handle. When he returned, Derrick straddled her while she was on the ground, pinning her down, then began pouring water over her face to the point that she could not breathe. Derrick did this multiple times throughout Wednesday evening and one time she lost consciousness and urinated onto the floor.”
The victim said Adams also “strangled her periodically throughout the assault.”
The woman told police she was terrified and believed Adams would kill her. She said she would do “everything she could to keep Derrick calm,” but he allegedly resumed beating her whenever he became angry while searching her phone.
Adams allegedly kept the victim’s phone, pretending to be her as he responded to messages from her family. She said he kept her in the basement, which did not have a bathroom, because he feared his family would discover she was there. If she went upstairs, Adams allegedly threatened to “tape her hands together and her mouth closed.” He also left her a bucket to “defecate/urinate in.”
Adams called in sick to work on Sept. 17 and 18 to stay with the victim, she told police.
On Sept. 18, Adams agreed to take the victim to Woodland Mall to use the bathroom. There, the victim locked herself inside a family restroom and spent about 30 minutes calling relatives for help.
Shortly before 10:30 a.m., she contacted her aunt. When she emerged from the restroom, Adams allegedly “immediately grabbed her.” She said he was “trembling, shaking and appeared scared” and told her he was afraid she would leave him.
The woman broke free and sprinted toward the doors of the mall’s food court. Adams allegedly caught her again and “held onto her while pleading with her to stay with him and that he was sorry.” Mall security intervened, and paramedics took the woman to a hospital.
Police later stopped Adams as he was leaving the mall. He told investigators the woman had made “numerous false reports” against him. However, police said a search of his home uncovered evidence supporting the victim’s version of events, including the Kool-Aid jug she described, several knives, a bag containing feces and a wet area on the bedroom floor.
Adams was released from jail after posting a $25,000 bond. He is scheduled to return to court for a preliminary exam on Oct. 6, records show.
