HOLLISTER
Former sheriff’s Sgt. Mike Rodrigues turned himself in to authorities Saturday, is out on $300,000 bail and will be arraigned next month on eight felony charges, including multiple rape counts, according to the San Benito County Jail.
Rodrigues’ surrender ended more than two days of searching for the former sergeant. He was indicted late Wednesday on charges that include: three counts of forcible rape, two counts of unlawful sexual penetration and one count each of spousal rape, domestic violence and attempted rape, according to San Benito County Superior Court documents.
Authorities issued an arrest warrant Thursday for the 25-year office veteran. Rodrigues’ whereabouts were unknown from Thursday until he surrendered to Lt. Roy Iler, accompanied by a bail bondsman, about 2 p.m. Saturday at the jail, Sheriff Curtis Hill said.
Hill and District Attorney Candice Hooper both expressed satisfaction that Rodrigues surrendered without incident.
“This is what we were looking for the whole time,” Hill said Saturday. “Now it’s up to the judicial system to handle it.”
The sheriff said he was booked without incident as Rodrigues posted the $300,000 bail. Hill said he did not know if Rodrigues made a statement about the charges while at the jail.
On Monday, the sheriff and district attorney were tight-lipped about details surrounding the indictment and Rodrigues’ whereabouts in the two days he was missing. Hill deferred comment to the district attorney’s office, and Hooper declined to comment until after Rodrigues is arraigned Jan. 22.
Rodrigues’ attorney, Mike Pekin, added that his client was out of the state when notified of the indictment and drove straight back to turn himself in. Pekin would not say where Rodrigues was located.
“He was 1,000 miles away on his own personal matters,” Pekin said Saturday.
Pekin quickly went on the offensive Saturday, suggesting that the criminal charges came about from an internal affairs investigation, and that the sheriff’s office had an ulterior motive.
Hill didn’t specifically address Pekin’s allegation, but did say the following Saturday:
“That’s fine. He has a right to his opinion. The criminal justice system responds when people report crimes, and that’s what was done here.”
Pekin said the allegations are baseless, that Rodrigues will be cleared of the charges and that Hooper used the criminal grand jury because she has a weak case against his client.
“It is a classic tool to protect a weak case,” Pekin said.
The attorney said he will most likely file a request to dismiss the indictment for insufficient evidence or for procedural error after he reviews the grand jury transcript. The transcript should be released by Jan. 2.
The indictment comes after Rodrigues fell under investigation in recent months for a multitude of criminal allegations.
According to the indictment, one of the suspected rapes took place around springtime of 1999 through 2000, but didn’t come to light until September. A second suspected rape took place in the winter of 2000, and was also not found by authorities until September, according to the indictment. The victim of both those suspected rapes was the same woman, according to the indictment.
The suspected spousal rape and domestic violence were alleged to have taken place in the winter of 2006, according to the indictment.
One of the suspected unlawful acts of sexual penetration on another woman were alleged to have taken place in February and July, according to the indictment. A suspected attempted rape in October and suspected rape in November were alleged by the same woman, according to the indictment.
If convicted of any of the sex crimes, Rodrigues would have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
The criminal grand jury foreman declined to comment Monday.
County Supervisor Reb Monaco when reached Saturday declined to comment on Rodrigues’ arrest because, he said, “It’s in the court system.”
Monaco holds the board seat occupied by former Supervisor Ron Rodrigues, Mike Rodrigues’ father.
“I know him personally, obviously, and I’m concerned for him,” Monaco said. “But I don’t have any other comment.”
Editor Kollin Kosmicki contributed to this story.
