Rodney Logan Shepherd

PIERCETON — A Fort Wayne man faces several criminal charges after allegedly threatening a woman multiple times and then setting the woman’s boyfriend’s vehicle on fire.

Rodney Logan Shepherd, 39, 1714 W. Fourth St., Fort Wayne, is charged with two counts of stalking, both level 5 felonies; arson and intimidation, both level 6 felonies; invasion of privacy, a class A misdemeanor; and two counts of criminal mischief, class B misdemeanors.

During a three-day period in mid-June, Shepherd texted the woman involved in this case several threatening and degrading messages. On June 17, 2019, Shepherd sent the woman messages, telling her that “your time is limited here,” “you get a house I’m burning it,” “you get a man you’ll die” and “do not buy a house here do not get a man.”

According to court documents, on June 18, 2019, the woman called the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office and said that around 4:30 a.m., Shepherd was yelling outside of her boyfriend’s residence, where she was staying. Ninety minutes later, she discovered her vehicle’s back window was broken. A hammer was laying beside the car and she believed that was used to break her vehicle’s window. The woman also said her vehicle’s gas cap had been tampered with and that something was possibly placed inside the gas tank. That same day, the woman went to Whitley County and filed for a protective order against Shepherd.

On June 24, 2019, a KCSO officer responded to an arson report. The officer arrived at the scene to find the Pierceton Fire Department and a 2001 Pontiac Aztec parked in a driveway on fire. The vehicle was completely burned. The officer spoke with the woman’s boyfriend, who owned the vehicle. He told the officer he had been having ongoing problems with Shepherd and that Shepherd is constantly sending him threatening text messages.

The man told the officer he feared Shepherd would burn his house down. He also told the officer he believed Shepherd was the one who set fire to his vehicle.

According to court documents, the Pierceton fire chief said the vehicle fire would be listed as an undetermined cause; however, the fire chief said the fire could possibly be ruled as incendiary due to the vehicle’s owner first noticing the fire in the high rear part of the vehicle, as well as the owner having a prior verbal confrontation with Shepherd.

On June 25, 2019, the man obtained a protective order against Shepherd in Kosciusko County Superior Court 3.

On July 12, 2019, the woman obtained a protective order against Shepherd in Whitley County Superior Court. The order states that Shepherd is to refrain from threatening to commit crimes against the woman and that he is also prohibited from communicating with her. Shepherd was personally served the protective order on July 22, 2019, by the Allen County Sheriff’s Department.

From July 3 to Aug. 25, 2019, the woman continued receiving text messages from Shepherd. The woman told officers that she has repeatedly told Shepherd to leave her alone, but that he tells her he will never do that and that she’ll never be with another man.

On Aug. 25, 2019, the woman was at her boyfriend’s residence when she heard what she thought was Shepherd’s vehicle. That same night, she received a threatening text message from Shepherd. A short time later, a camera outside of her boyfriend’s residence alerted them to someone outside of the residence. The person yelled and then threw something, breaking the front window of the woman’s vehicle.

Shepherd currently has five active criminal cases in Whitley County, where the woman involved in this case is the victim. Five of the cases involve invasion of privacy; one of the cases also includes intimidation and criminal mischief charges.

Shepherd was booked in the Kosciusko County Jail on Jan. 21, 2020, with a $210,000 surety and cash bond.