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Fort Myers rape investigation leads to grow house bust

Posted at 10:21 PM, Nov 17, 2017
and last updated 2017-11-17 22:21:26-05
A woman was gagged with a bathroom towel and raped inside a gated community in Fort Myers.
 
The victim told Lee County Sheriff deputies she was sexually assaulted by Joshua Warren Wolf.
 
"What he did, there's no response, or excuse for that," said Kevin Ona, a man who lives inside Sandalwood.
 
Neighbors inside the gated community struggled to come to grips with how a woman was gagged and raped.
 
"I'm really surprised because it was on the same street as mine, so the fact I didn't know about it is insane," said Michael O'Dell, a father of four. "Everyone on the block is pretty nice, but you never know people," he added.
 
Sheriff deputies discovered an undercover marijuana grow house while they investigated the rape.
 
"We never had a grow house in here," said Jason Lipsher, who has lived here since 1999. "That blows my mind," he added.

LCSO found over 200 grams of marijuana, 1000 watt high pressure sodium bulbs, old marijuana roots in trash bags, and fertilizer.
 
"That's a big, big chunk," said O'Dell. "I would never think about that because everyone here is so nice," he added.
 
People who live in Sandalwood stunned this happened in a neighborhood full of surveillance cameras.
 
"I thought the gate would keep all that out," said Ona.
 
They even thought the Lee County Sheriff crime van parked by the front would also deter crime.

"The crime scene lady has been here since I've lived here," said Lipsher. "That's always given people a sense of security," he added.
 
Lipsher wants the complex to do more in order to make sure people like Wolf don't find their way through the gates.
 
"The community allows all these renters and they are not properly screening them and doing background checks," said Lipsher. "That's when you get people like thos who live in your neighborhood and nobody wants that," he added.
 
Wolf is behind bars at the Lee County jail. He's being charged with sexual assault along with numerous drug related charges.
 
Wolf's victim is scheduled for a medical exam at the rape crisis center.