Staff Report

Ryan Paul Nicholas Rautenberg

WARSAW — A Warsaw man was recently arrested for allegedly preventing a woman from leaving a residence and battering her.

Ryan Paul Nicholas Rautenberg, 35, 1115 W. Winona Ave., Warsaw, is charged with criminal confinement, a level 4 felony; domestic battery resulting in serious bodily injury, a level 5 felony; strangulation, domestic battery with a child under 16 present, intimidation, and domestic battery with a prior conviction enhancement, all level 6 felonies; and domestic battery, a class A misdemeanor.

On Dec. 5, a Warsaw Police officer responded to a battery report. The officer spoke with a woman, whose left eye was purple and swollen shut. She also had a bruise on her forehead, cut on her lower lip, and scratches on her neck.

According to court documents, the woman said she and a child visited Rautenberg on Dec. 1. At one point, Rautenberg became upset and allegedly hit the back of the woman’s head three times with a closed fist. As a result, the woman lost consciousness. When she regained consciousness, Rautenberg hit her head against the ground and stepped on her upper back.

The woman attempted to leave, but Rautenberg moved a couch in front of a door to prevent her from doing so, grabbed her hair and pulled her to the ground. He then stepped on her neck and threatened to kill her. During this, the woman got a bloody nose and complained of neck and back pain. The child watched the incident happen.

Also during the altercation, Rautenberg took the woman’s cellphone and wrapped the residence’s front door with material similar to a bungee cord, which prevented it from opening.

On Dec. 5, the woman found her cellphone, texted a relative, and left the residence with the child while Rautenberg slept.

Rautenberg has prior convictions for domestic battery and battery by means of a deadly weapon.

Rautenberg was booked in the Kosciusko County Jail on Dec. 5.