Police: Mom told teens to rob Amish

By

Jannaya Andrews

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Michelle Rodriguez

    The Adams County sheriffs and Berne police departments collaborated to quickly arrest four suspects in the alleged recent attacks on members of the Amish community in the Berne area, according to Adams County Prosecutor Chris Harvey
    Three people now face multiple felony charges, including armed robbery, and a fourth is facing a conspiracy charge.
    David Veliz, 19, and Alejandro Lopez, 18, both of Fort Wayne, and Brady Rodriguez, 17, who is a minor but has been remanded to adult court, all face one count of armed robbery, three counts of attempted armed robbery, three counts of criminal confinement, and one count of conspiracy to commit armed robbery.
    Michelle Rodriguez, mother of Brady Rodriguez, of Berne, faces one count of conspiracy to commit armed robbery.
    Harvey said it is believed that last Monday, Michelle Rodriguez was preparing to move to Fort Wayne and told her son, Brady, along with Veliz and Lopez, that she needed money to complete the move and to purchase drugs.
    According to the probable cause affidavit, Rodriguez instructed the three teens to rob members of the Amish community for the needed money. The three teens allegedly left in a 2005 Chevrolet Malibu Maxx and drove the vehicle to a rural area of Berne, where they allegedly pulled in front of Amish buggies, blocking the buggys path and forcing the driver to stop.
    The teens then allegedly approached the buggies wearing gas masks and carrying baseball bats, demanded money from the occupants and, in at least one instance, used the bat to strike a minor riding in a buggy.
    During the course of the investigation, the sheriffs department received a description of the vehicle. One victim reported scraping the rear drivers side door with the buggys wheel, which is painted black, while attempting to flee, according to the probable cause report.
    The sheriffs department issued a be on the lookout for the vehicle, which was spotted by Berne police as it was being driven by a woman known to them as Michelle Rodriguez, with Brady Rodriguez riding in the passenger seat.
    On Tuesday, Berne police went to the home of Rodriquez and discovered the vehicle, which was later identified by all four robbery victims as the one used in the attacks, parked on the south side of Rodriguezs mobile home, according to the report.

  http://www.decaturdailydemocrat.com/print/5554