An Island man and registered sex offender was arrested and charged with sexually abusing a mentally handicapped victim last week after he reportedly fled the Island and was apprehended by Massachusetts State police while trying to flee into a restaurant in Dartmouth.

Peter Duart, 42, of Daggett avenue in Tisbury, was arrested on charges of rape and indecent assault against a mentally retarded person, after Oak Bluffs police issued a warrant for his arrest. The circumstances surrounding his arrest are similar to those that led to his arrest and conviction in 2004 on charges of rape and indecent assault and battery on a retarded person.

After being convicted, Mr. Duart served two years in state prison and was forced to register as a Level II sex offender.

Mr. Duart is a former assistant coach on the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School football team and a currently serving, elected member of the Tisbury planning board. He was elected to a five-year term on the board during the town wide election in 2007 as a write-in candidate; he received 560 votes.

Tisbury town administrator John Bugbee said this week there was no provision in state or local law ­— other than a recall election — that would allow the town to remove an elected board or committee member from office. At their regular meeting on Tuesday, Tisbury selectmen agreed to send Mr. Duart a letter asking him to resign from his position.

Mr. Duart was arrested following an investigation headed by Oak Bluffs detective Nicolas Curelli.

According to court records, Oak Bluffs police were first notified by an employee of the Vineyard Nursing Association who was contracted by the state to provide services to the victim, who was living in Woodside Village. Police then talked with the victim, who said he received several phone calls from Mr. Duart, his former boss at the A & P Grocery Store in Edgartown, which is now the Stop & Shop.

Mr. Duart worked in the store as an assistant manager, court records indicate.

The victim told police that Mr. Duart called him several times late at night and made a number of inappropriate comments during their conversations. Mr. Duart, the victim said, then visited his apartment earlier this month, where the sexual abuse allegedly took place.

Sergeant Michael Marchand and Det. Curelli then traveled to Mr. Duart’s home in Tisbury last Tuesday and asked him to come to the Oak Bluffs police department for questioning. Mr. Duart refused, telling police he needed first to talk with his lawyer, court records indicate.

Fearing that Mr. Duart might be a flight risk, police applied for an arrest warrant the next morning, which was issued by Edgartown Superior Court clerk Joseph Solitto. Oak Bluffs police then learned Mr. Duart had fled the Island and put out a warning to all police agencies in the region to be on the lookout for him.

State police trooper Gary Jones then spotted Mr. Duart driving on Faunce Corner Road in Dartmouth around 6 p.m.. After Mr. Duart realized he had been spotted, he fled into the 99 Restaurant and Pub while trooper Jones called for backup. Mr. Duart was caught and arrested a short time later.

State trooper Robert Branca from the Oak Bluffs barracks traveled to Dartmouth to pick up Mr. Duart and transport him back to the Dukes County Sheriff’s Department to be processed. Mr. Duart was arraigned Thursday morning in Edgartown District Court where bail was set at $50,000.

After Mr. Duart’s arrest, Det. Curelli and Officer James Morse applied for several search warrants, which were issued by the court, and seized a laptop computer, a digital camera and a cell phone found in Mr. Duart’s vehicle. They also searched Mr. Duart’s home and seized a laptop computer, DVDs and letters and notes.

Mr. Duart was due back in court this morning, but was instead sent to the Middlesex County Stabilization Unit, a correctional mental health facility for a mental health evaluation. He was then transported to Bridgewater State Hospital in southeastern Massachusetts, a state facility housing the criminally insane and sex offenders.

He is due back in court on April 23.

Mr. Duart was arrested and indicted by a grand jury in 2003 on one count of rape and one count of indecent assault and battery on a retarded person. The victim in that incident was a 30-year-old Tisbury man who also worked with Mr. Duart at the Edgartown A & P grocery store.

According to court records, the victim in the more recent incident is not the same victim involved in the previous incident.

Following his conviction, Mr. Duart was sentenced to two years at MCI Cedar Junction in Walpole, a maximum security prison for male offenders, and three years probation to be served upon his release. As part of his sentence, he was also required to register as a Level II sex offender, have no contact with the victim and attend sexual abuse perpetrator counseling.

Mr. Duart’s probation ended on Oct. 10, 2008, according to court records, although he was still registered as a sex offender. If convicted on the current charges, Mr. Duart could be sentenced to life in prison, according to state law.