Docs: Man arrested for raping mother and 12-year-old daughter at west side home
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A 21-year-old man was arrested after police say he broke into a west side home on Saturday and raped a mother and her daughter while recording it on his phone.
Teshon Gardner has been preliminarily charged with two counts of rape, online records show.
According to court documents obtained by News 8, at 12:45 p.m., Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers were dispatched to South Worth Avenue on a report of a rape at the residence.
Police spoke with the mother who reported she and her 12-year-old daughter were raped at gunpoint inside their home.
According to court documents, the woman’s 1-year-old and 8-month-old children were inside the home during the time of the assault but were in a different room.
The woman told police at the scene she had just come home when she heard a knock at the front door. When she opened the door, Garder was pointing a handgun at her while standing at the door.
Garnder went inside the home and raped the woman on the couch and floor, court docs say. Gardner began looking at family pictures on the wall and asked if anyone else was inside the home. Gardner then stopped the assault and walked down the hallway where the children were sleeping.
The woman warned Gardner that her children were sleeping as he walked down the hallway. The documents said Gardner told the woman to get one of her children and go back into the living room.
Police say Gardner raped the woman and her daughter multiple times.
The woman told police Gardner arrived at her house at 11:30 a.m. and left an hour later. The woman gave a detailed description of the suspect, later identified as Gardner, including a tattoo of the letter “M” and an unknown writing underneath it on the left side of his torso.
The woman also said that Gardner reportedly recorded himself raping her and her daughter with his cellphone.
Detectives were provided surveillance footage from a neighbor that showed a blue Ford F150 driving south on Worth Avenue at 12:31 p.m. With the help of nearby cameras, police tracked down the Ford at West 28th Street.
Gardner was arrested during a traffic stop.
Gardner told detectives in an interview that he was the only person driving the Ford and had spent most of the day driving around. He also denied having sexual contact with anyone that day or sexually assaulting anyone. When detectives asked about his tattoo, Gardner showed officers the left side of his torso, where the letter “M” is tattooed along with the word “Motown.”
Gardner could not explain how the victims in the case knew about his tattoo.
Gardner was taken to Ezkenazi Hospital where a sexual assault nurse examined him. He was later taken to jail.
Gardner is due in court at 9 a.m. on Tuesday.
As of Monday afternoon, News 8’s request for the booking photo of Gardner was declined by IMPD, stating it would not be released to the media yet.
