A victim of constant harassment from her ex-boyfriend called police after she found a tracking device under her car, authorities allege in a complaint.
Edgar Nodvel Rodriguez, 52, was arrested on July 25 by the San Juan Police Department and was charged with stalking and unlawful installation of a tracking device after a woman reported that she found the device after suspecting he was tracking her.
On Feb. 25, officers met with the woman, whose identity authorities did not reveal, who contacted authorities after finding a black box underneath her car’s bumper.
The probable cause affidavit stated the woman suspected her ex-boyfriend, Rodriguez, planted a GPS tracker on her car because he was “constantly running into her at different locations and saying it was coincidental.”
The officers confirmed the black box was a GPS tracking device and submitted it into evidence.
More than four months later, a police investigator gave the woman an update on the case. During that meeting, the woman said Rodriguez continued to show up at her home. She also recalled — more than two weeks before she discovered the device — having dinner at Denny’s when she noticed Rodriguez at the front door of the restaurant, looking in her direction.
The complaint stated Rodriguez left the restaurant when he noticed that she saw him.
The day she discovered the device, the woman was at Junction Café in Pharr where again she noticed Rodriguez in the front of the restaurant, according to the complaint.
The woman stated “there were more occasions where Mr. Rodriguez showed up at her location,” the affidavit read.
In undated instances, the woman said Rodriguez showed up at places where she was — the bears trail, the San Juan Basilica and the Alamo Memorial track, according to the complaint.
“(The woman) stated she fear(ed) for her and her children’s life (sic), then stated her attitude has changed due to her felling (sic) insecure whenever she goes anywhere” the complaint stated.
The complaint further describes the woman’s fear as she told the investigator when “she gets home, she needs to make sure her gate is not open and she immediately locks the gate.”
On July 16, the investigator called Rodriguez and informed him of the allegations against him, the affidavit read.
According to the complaint, Rodriguez admitted he placed a GPS on the woman’s car earlier in the year when they separated, “without her consent to check if she was dating her ex-husband or someone else.”
Because he was able to see the woman’s location with an app on his cellphone, the complaint states, Rodriguez saw the woman on several occasions at several locations, including at an H-E-B.
In addition to the public locations, Rodriguez also said he passed by the woman’s home because “he knew (she) had a tendency to be outside her house in the afternoon hours.”
According to the complaint, Rodriguez was previously given a criminal trespass warning and “stated he knows he did wrong in going back to (her) house.”
Rodriguez was arrested on July 24 and charged with stalking and unlawful installation of a tracking device. His bonds totaled at $12,000.
Rodriguez was released the following day.
The 52-year-old man has a lengthy criminal record dating back to 1991, having been arrested several times for allegations of drinking while intoxicated and two encounters with law enforcement that resulted in charges — including resisting arrest, indecent exposure and an assault on a family member charge.
In 1994, according to the affidavit, Rodriguez exposed himself to a woman “with intent to arouse and gratify the sexual desire of defendant.”
Rodriguez was sentenced to 15 days in Hidalgo County’s jail and given a fine of $200. However, the court deferred his sentence for 180 days on probation.
Ten years later, Rodriguez was charged with assault related to an incident with family, when he allegedly injured a woman by “striking the victim with his hands,” the document stated.
According to court records, Rodriguez was sentenced to 45 days in the county’s jail in addition to receiving a fine of $250, but the court deferred his sentence for a year of probation.
