Californian man convicted of raping woman in Warsaw in 1999

WARSAW, IND. (WANE) – The California man found guilty last month of raping a woman in Warsaw 22 years ago has been convicted.

Rodriguez Todd, 53, of La Mesa, Calif., was sentenced Tuesday to 80 years in prison for crimes a judge called “despicable.”

Todd was convicted of rape and kidnapping by Kosciusko Superior Court last month.

It was between 7 and 8 p.m. on November 23, 1999 when a woman said she had been abducted from a Shell gas station in Warsaw by a man with a fake beard and mustache. The woman said she was traveling to Ligonier from Logansport, where she lived, to visit her critically ill father when she stopped to check her transmission oil, according to the Kosciusko County Prosecutor’s Office.

As the woman reached for the transmission dipstick at the gas station, the man approached her, pointed a knife and said, “Let’s go for a ride,” prosecutors said.

The man then forced her into her car and took her to a wooded area, where he raped her twice.

An hour later, the crying woman realized the man was gone and drove to Logansport herself.

The woman had collected a sexual assault kit and evidence was turned over to the Indiana State Police. However, the case remained cold until 2019.

In April 2019, state police found a match between Todd and collected DNA. Todd was traced to San Diego, California and an arrest warrant was served.

In an interview with police, Todd said he lived in South Bend in 1999 and worked as a probation officer. He said he had had several “one-night stands” and “frequently had sex in a car, usually in the woods or some remote location,” prosecutors detailed.

DNA testing of Todd showed “very strong support” that he was a suspect in the 1999 rape, prosecutors said.

Before the trial, the woman said she was “ready and wanted to nail him for what he did to her,” prosecutors said.

For Tuesday’s sentencing, the victim submitted a written statement, saying she had “spent more than twenty years… with the pain, suffering and fear of this rapist.” She said she had to relive the rape in court.

Prosecutor Dan Hampton told the court the victim had been living a nightmare since 1999.

“She had to look over her shoulder because the rapist hadn’t been caught yet,” Hampton said.

He added: “Now that Rodriguez Rodd has been caught, he must be held accountable.”

He’s probably going to die in prison now.