Dayton Police charged a local man with raping an acquaintance at her home Monday night.

Police were notified of a possible rape Monday at about 8:20 p.m. The 36-year-old Dayton woman told Investigator Chris Sneed she was at her apartment talking with a friend, when another friend, Michael Anzira Banks, 43, of Cottonwood Street, Dayton, arrived. The other man left about 30 minutes later, but Banks stayed, Sneed reported.

After about an hour, during which time Banks drank two beers, Banks began making sexual advances toward the woman. She told Sneed she refused the advances, and the two began struggling. Although she attempted to call for help, the woman said Banks pulled the phone cord out of the wall and damaged her cordless phone during the struggle, according to Sneed's report.

Banks then allegedly raped the woman twice while choking her and threatening her with a pocketknife. He threatened to kill the woman and then himself, according to Sneed.

When the man went to look out a window in the living room, the woman escaped out the back door and ran to a neighboring apartment where the occupants called the police. Banks quickly left in his pickup truck, the woman told Sneed.

Dayton police transported the woman to Rhea Medical Center's Emergency Department where a physician collected specimens for a rape test kit. Meanwhile, Sneed and other officers began searching for Banks.

Banks showed up at the Dayton Police Department at about 11 p.m. Monday and told Sneed he had heard police were searching for him.

While Sneed was questioning the suspect, Banks admitted he had been at the woman's apartment earlier that evening but he had only hugged her. He then admitted to having sexual contact with the woman but three weeks earlier. When Banks refused to answer any more questions, Sneed transported him to RMC for the collection of more specimens for the rape test kit, according to Sneed.

While at the hospital, Banks then said that the rape test kit might reveal something because he had sex with the woman the night before she was allegedly raped. He said he hadn't showered or changed his clothes since then, Sneed said.

A physical examination of the victim revealed she had several scratches and abrasions on various parts of her body. When Sneed examined the victim's apartment, he found signs of a struggle and the telephones damaged as she had indicated. No knife was found in Banks' possession, according to the investigator.

Sneed arrested Banks and charged him with rape. He was arraigned in Rhea County General Sessions Court on Friday and is being held at the Rhea County Jail pending payment of a $5,000 bond.

John Carpenter can be reached at jcarpenter@xtn.net.