CASSOPOLIS —A Niles man who severely beat a woman earlier this year is heading to prison.
For Rodney Dokey, 33, convictions of home invasion, malicious destruction of property and domestic violence were his first felonies. But the severe nature of the crimes still landed him a two- to 15-year prison term at his sentencing at Cass County Circuit Court Friday. He will receive credit for 160 days already served.
According to the police report, the incident took place 2:30 a.m. April 4. Dokey was intoxicated when he went to the home of a woman and entered the residence by kicking in the door. Although the reasoning is unclear, Dokey began to punch the woman on the side of her head.
Judge Michael Dodge said Dokey then forcefully stripped off her pants and underwear before he “pummeled” her again. When he went to the kitchen, reportedly looking for a weapon, the victim took the opportunity to escape to a neighbor’s home.
The woman suffered two broken ear drums, two black eyes, bruising, a broken nose, broken jaw and a concussion, which kept her out of work for two weeks.
“What we have here is a construction worker submitting a petite, 5-foot-2 woman to a night of horror,” Prosecutor Victor Fitz said.
Defense attorney Lanny Fisher pointed to Dokey’s record clean of felonies before the offense.
“This is something completely out of character for him,” Fisher said. “Alcohol was involved and he let his emotions get the best of him.”
For his part, Dokey said he was “very sorry for what happened.”
“It’s pretty easy to mess up and that’s what I did. It will never happen again, I can promise you that,” he said.
Dodge called the offense a “violent and vicious attack.”
“Maybe you are a pretty good guy,” Dodge told Dokey. “But in this case you were pretty vicious.”
Dodge said he wouldn’t allow for Dokey to participate in the boot camp program.