NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Sex Crimes detectives this afternoon are charging Dantis Lakka-Lako, who turned age 17 today, with aggravated rape, aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary for last Wednesday’s sexual assault of a woman inside her apartment at the Overlook complex on Bell Road. Detectives went to Lakka-Lako’s apartment on Hickory Hollow Place today to execute a search warrant for his DNA. Statements made by him during an interview with lead Detective Kim Rothwell led to his arrest on the rape, robbery and burglary charges.
A significant break in the case came Friday when the victim’s 2011 Toyota Camry, which was stolen after the rape, was recovered from Hickory Trace Apartments, the same complex where Lakka-Lako lives. Citizens who had heard the description of the car from media reports spotted it in the parking lot Friday morning and called police. Lakka-Lako’s name was connected to this case after the car was forensically analyzed for evidence by experts at the MNPD’s Crime Laboratory. The investigation also revealed that a person matching Lakka-Lako’s description used the victim’s stolen credit card four separate times on Thursday and Friday at a Bell Road convenience market.
The 30-year-old pregnant victim arrived home from the store at 4:10 p.m. last Wednesday and parked outside of her apartment building. It is believed that Lakka-Lako entered the apartment as she was making a second trip to her car to retrieve groceries. The victim was lying down when the assailant entered her bedroom armed with a knife from the victim’s kitchen. He demanded money and told her not to run. He proceeded to take the belongings in her purse and then raped the victim. During her struggle with the attacker, the victim managed to hit him over the head with a bottle, which caused him to leave the room. She then used the knife that he left behind to slash the screen and jumped from her third story bedroom window. The pregnant victim received serious injuries from hitting the ground and continues to recover in a medical facility.
