Rodman pleads guilty to burglary of Bakersfield storage units in 2021

Nathan T. Rodman pleaded guilty to second degree burglary. Pursuant to a plea agreement, Rodman was sentenced to 3 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections, SES, and 5 years probation. An SES, or suspended execution of sentence, means a defendant will be sentenced to a prison term but will be placed on probation and will not go to prison unless they violate the terms of that probation. 

Charges against Rodman were in connection with the October 2021 burglary and theft at the Cedar Ridge RV and Storage Unit in Bakersfield. Rodman and two other men were charged in the burglary.  

According to the probable cause statement filed by Ozark County Sheriff Cass Martin, he was contacted about a burglary at the storage units off Highway 101 in Bakersfield on Oct. 12, 2021. 

“Once on scene I made contact with Sylvia Ponders [and was] advised her storage unit had been broken into and some items taken from her unit. Ms. Ponders advised Jim Bales had discovered the lock missing from the storage unit at approximately 07:20 hours that morning. I spoke to Jim Bales and he advised he observed two males tampering with the doors on the storage units. Jim Bales advised he walked up and stated, ‘What the hell are you doing stealing my stuff?’” the report says. 

Bales told the sheriff that two men retreated toward a grayish-blue mustang with Minnesota license plates that was parked on the north side of the storage units. Bales said one man was carrying a medical scale that was taken from the storage unit, and another male was fleeing from a storage unit adjacent from his storage unit, the report says. He said he watched another man sitting in the suspect’s vehicle.

“I spoke with Jim Bales and Sylvia Ponders and got descriptions of the property missing from the storage unit.…Sylvia Ponders advised all together it was roughly $500 in missing property,” the sheriff wrote. 

He then spoke to another tenant of Cedar Ridge RV and Storage unit, Grover Cleveland, who said someone had also tried to break into his storage unit and jammed the locking mechanism on the unit. 

“I spoke to the owner of the property, Teresa Owenby, who advised the locking mechanism on the storage unit would have to be replaced, and that it would possibly cost between $75 to $125 to have it repaired.”

Former OCSD Sgt. Justin Brown and Martin went to Eric Vandiver’s residence to speak to him about the break-in at Cedar Ridge RV and Storage. Sgt. Brown Mirandized Vandiver and started his conversation with Vandiver, who reportedly said that he was not alone in breaking into the storage units.  

“He described two other individuals who we had identified as Joshua George and Nathan Rodman. Eric Vandiver admitted to breaking into the storage units and only taking a scale from the storage unit, which was one of the items described to be seen in the hands of one of the suspects seen fleeing when caught by Jim Bales,” Martin’s report says.