Philadelphia Daily News
Wednesday, December 6, 2002
3 YEARS LATER, HE'LL GO ON TRIAL
'97 RAPE ACCUSATION WENT UNEXPLORED
By Dave Racher,
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
The former drug addict's rape accusation apparently fell through the cracks in 1997. Somehow, the now 44-year-old woman's complaint against Harold Strand, 43, was not followed through by investigators.
Finally, after a report in the Philadelphia Inquirer about police ignoring rape complaints, the woman says she got some justice. Strand, of Warnock Street near Tioga, was arrested on Nov. 24, said Assistant District Attorney Leslie Gomez. Yesterday, after the grandmother, who says she's now drug free, testified at a preliminary hearing, Strand was ordered to stand trial for rape, aggravated assault, unlawful restraint and related charges. After Gomez called Strand "a danger to the community, and a danger to the woman," Municipal Judge James M. DeLeon raised bail from $8,000 to $10,000. DeLeon issued a stay-away order against Strand, warning that if he bothers the accuser, he could face an immediate one-year jail term. The woman has moved out of the city. She testified that after leaving Strand's "speakeasy," at his home on Nov. 2, 1997, he called her back inside and accused her of stealing a crack pipe. When she denied the theft, Strand and a woman named Lisa began punching her. Lisa tore some of her hair out. Then, Strand "grabbed me by my sweater and threw me down his basement steps." She struck her head on a cement floor before Strand spread her leather coat on the floor and raped her on it after punching her several more times. Strand then ordered her to have sex with Lisa while both "grabbed my hair." "I've waited three years for this," the woman told Gomez. "Now, it's coming hard." She said she was locked in the dark basement for a few hours before she was allowed back upstairs. She was unable to get anyone to help her and was only released when she begged Strand to let her go home to take care of her children, she said. Gomez asked if the woman sustained any injuries. "I have a herniated disc in my neck, I cannot work full time, and I have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome," she replied.
