HOUSTON – A 17-year-old and a 16-year-old have both been arrested and charged after deputies said they kidnapped and sexually assaulted a 25-year-old woman they didn’t know while at gunpoint.
Olvin Rodriguez, 17, and the 16-year-old juvenile have both been charged with aggravated robbery, aggravated sexual assault, and aggravated kidnapping.
As the woman pulled into her driveway from a concert in the early morning hours of Sept. 2, the teens walked up with a gun and forced her back into the car, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said.
They drove to near the 9100 block of Loren Lane, sexually assaulting her on the way and once there, beating her when she tried to run away, then stole her car and personal belongings including her cell phone, investigators said.
“I’m in shock, I’m terrified,” a neighbor who remembers seeing the investigation unfold said. “It’s so dark back there, and it’s so easy for somebody to go back there and commit crimes.”
The woman’s family called 911 after she didn’t return home and her phone was pinging elsewhere, the sheriff’s office said. Court documents revealed her mother and brother found her naked near a bush.
The teenagers fled on foot and her car was found nearby, investigators said.
“It makes me very sad, very scary, I mean honestly, you know, I have teenagers, and that’s terrifying knowing that they’re going to come home and something could happen to them,” the neighbor, who asked KPRC not to use her name, said.
Harris County Precinct 4 Deputy Constables responded to the scene and secured valuable evidence for the investigation. Harris County Sheriff’s Office Violent Crime investigators then took over.
During the investigation, deputies said they were able to track the woman’s cell phone to a residence where the phone was being used off and on during periods.
Rodriguez was arrested at a residence in the 9300 block of Dogwood View Lane, and deputies were also able to recover the woman’s property and the gun used in the assault.
He made his first court appearance Thursday night, when prosecutors said he admitted to committing the crimes with the 16-year-old. His attorney said he has many mental health concerns.
According to court documents, Rodriguez admitted to committing a similar crime in the same neighborhood on Aug. 9.
He’s being held on a $300,000 bond and is due back in court Monday.
The 16-year-old was also arrested at his residence without incident. The name of the 16-year-old will not be released due to him being a juvenile.