Car-jacker identified

Picture of siren

By Harvey County Now Staff

The accused Athletic Park car-jacker has been identified by the City of Newton as Robert G Rodriguez, 56 of Newton.

A 2016 Harvey County booking photo of Robert G. Rodriguez. Rodriguez stands accused of robbing a woman of her car in Athletic Park, Thursday.

Rodriguez stands accused of approaching a female jogger in Athletic park Thursday and stealing her car. The victim, between the ages of 50 and 60, told police that on Thursday morning, a man told her he had a gun, and said that he would harm her if she did not give him her vehicle.

The woman complied but was able to compile a description of what the man was wearing as well as the cloth mask he had on.

Rodriguez was later arrested that day by Sedgwick County law enforcement and accused of committing a robbery in Sedgwick County Park.
Newton Police Department stated that at the time the victim’s car as well as a mask and clothes her description were found in the man’s possession.
According to the Kansas Department of Corrections Rodriguez was discharged from his community corrections program in Harvey County on Dec. 3, 2020.  He was released from the purview of the Kansas Department of Corrections Oct. 20 2019.

Rodriguez has criminal convictions from six different counties including a string of 29 criminal convictions from 2008-2010 on various charges including robbery, burglary, theft, criminal use of a financial card, and forgery.  He also had an attempted second-degree murder conviction in Harvey County dating back to 1985. During his most recent stint in the Lansing Correctional Facility, KDOC lists three disciplinary reports for “lewd acts” and one for battery.

The man has yet to be formally charged in Harvey County and remains held in Sedgwick County. He will likely be facing aggravated robbery charges locally for the incident.

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