Woman accused of robbery resulting in bodily injury in November incident

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. – A woman was arrested after she allegedly helped steal a vehicle alongside a woman who allegedly attacked two people, according to the probable cause affidavit.

At 1:35 a.m. on November 28, 2021, officers with the South Bend Police Department responded to a home in the 1600 block of North College Street for a possible fight.

On the way to the scene, officers were told that someone may have been shot and a suspect left in a red car heading east on Keller Street.

At the home, an officer spoke to one of the victims, who appeared to have been hit in the face.

The officer noticed swelling and bleeding and medics were called for a possibly broken nose.

The other victim appeared disheveled and had spots of blood on his sweatshirt. He said his ex-girlfriend and her cousin, “Nina” (who was later identified as Alena Melody Catano), had battered them and vandalized the female victim’s gray Nissan SUV, reports said.

The alleged suspect and Catano then left the scene in a red car, which was later identified as a red Mercury, reports said.

The officer who spoke with the female victim said the woman appeared to be in shock.

The victim told police she was in her vehicle with the male victim when she pulled up in front of the male victim’s residence on North College.

She saw the red Mercury approach and then stop. The alleged suspect and another woman, identified as Catano, got out of the vehicle.

The alleged suspect began hitting the female victim’s vehicle with a crowbar, according to reports.

The male victim got out of the car and tried to stop the suspect but the suspect swung the crowbar at the male victim, the female victim said.

The male victim was able to catch the crowbar before it hit him.

He then tried to keep Catano off of the female victim.

At this time, the suspect allegedly hit the female victim with the crowbar.

The suspect and Catano took the female victim’s Galaxy Note 10 cellphone and wallet before they drove away, according to police reports.

The female victim called 911 and the call had been left open when her cellphone was taken.

Dispatch operators reported hearing two female voices on the line talking about how they had just “beat that [expletive deleted]” and that “we just beat the [expletive deleted] out of someone. We need a spot,” reports said.

The male victim told officers he had been hit when he tried to block the crowbar blows. The victim had a laceration on his right pinky finger and his glasses had been knocked off, police reported.

Dispatch gathered location information on where the open call came from. One of the locations came back as the alleged suspect’s residence but when officers went there, the suspect nor any other woman was found.

At 9 a.m. later that morning, an officer went to the area of Portage Avenue and Elwood Road for a report of a red Mercury vehicle ramming into a blue Chevrolet Trailblazer.

The officer found the Mercury in the area and saw that it was driven by the suspect in the crowbar incident.

The Mercury was closely following the Chevrolet, which was driven by the male victim, reports said.

The officer initiated a traffic stop.

The male victim said he was taking the female victim home from the hospital and the suspect seemed to be waiting for them on College Street.

He and the suspect argued before he got back into his vehicle and drove away with the female victim.

The suspect allegedly followed them and rammed her vehicle into his Chevrolet multiple times.

The suspect was taken into custody and her vehicle was impounded. Officers found the female victim’s cellphone and wallet inside, reports said.

During a follow-up, the female victim said she knows “Nina” as “Nina Catano,” according to reports.

The victim gave investigators screenshots of Facebook profile pictures of “Nina Catano.” Detectives then found an Alena Melody Catano, who matched the woman in the Facebook photos the victim provided.

The Facebook profile for “Nina” had a listed name of “Nina Melody Catano.”

Catano was charged with one count of robbery resulting in bodily injury.

Her initial hearing is set for June 10.

Medical records showed the female victim suffered nasal fractures, a laceration to her head that required staples, and a chest contusion.