Ryan Paul Nicholas Rautenberg

WARSAW — A Warsaw man is facing charges after allegedly striking a vehicle with a shovel and then striking a female. 

Ryan Paul Nicholas Rautenberg, 31, 342 South CR 325E, Warsaw, is being charged with battery while armed with a deadly weapon, a level 5 felony; battery resulting in moderate bodily injury, a level 6 felony; and criminal mischief, a class B misdemeanor. 

According to the affidavit of probable cause, on Tuesday, Feb. 5, officers with the Warsaw Police Department responded to a battery in progress at McDonalds located at 3611 Commerce Drive in Warsaw. 

When police arrived, they observed two females arguing in the parking lot. The undersigned observed welts, swelling, redness and scratches on the forearms of one of the females. The female with visible injuries told officers that she was in her vehicle when Rautenberg and another female approached her vehicle. She stated that Rautenberg had a yellow children’s shovel and was striking her vehicle with it so she got a hammer to protect herself. According to the female, Rautenberg reached into the vehicle to take the hammer and tried to drag her through the open window of the vehicle. She said Rautenberg began striking her in the arm. 

Officers observed yellow paint transfer to the vehicle. Upon questioning the female with Rautenberg, that female told police that the other female had grabbed a hammer and that Rautenberg was attempting to disarm her when they got into an altercation. Rautenberg took the hammer and fled the area.

Police obtained surveillance video from McDonald’s which showed Rautenberg and the female accompanying him approach McDonalds. Rautenberg is seen carrying a shovel. In the video, it appears that the female with Rautenberg is shouting and gesturing toward the female in the vehicle. Rautenberg is then seen approaching the vehicle holding the shovel in a manner consistent with swinging it. Video shows Rautenberg swing the shovel into the open driver side window, and the female inside the vehicle is then seen holding up a hammer. 

In the video, Rautenberg is seen grabbing the hammer and pulling the female partially through the open window. Rautenberg is then seen making a chopping motion, striking the female repeatedly in the forearms until she released the hammer. During the assault, Rautenberg breaks the shovel and is seen leaving the area carrying the shovel handle and the hammer. 

Rautenberg was booked in the Kosciusko County Jail Feb. 5, on a $600 cash bond.