Habitual offender arrested for robbing tourists

Ronald Ealey was arrested by police last week after robbing two tourists in Marpi. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

A habitual offender was arrested last week for allegedly robbing two tourists in Marpi.

Last week, Department of Public Safety officers arrested Ronald Ealey for robbing two tourists in Marpi last Aug. 29.

According to an official press release from DPS, at around 1:58pm last Aug. 29, the police department received a call reporting a robbery incident that took place in Marpi and officers were dispatched to the caller’s location.

At around 2:06pm, DPS responding officers met with a rental car operator who stated that the victims, two tourists, were on their way.

Soon after, a couple arrived in the area in a rental vehicle. Officers noted that one of the victims, a female passenger, was in tears as she got out of the vehicle while the second victim, a male and the driver of the vehicle, was in shock and was not able to say much.

Police learned from the couple that they had stopped on the side of the road while heading to the Grotto because a red sedan kept honking at them from behind. Then,  after coming to a stop, the red sedan allegedly drove to the front of their rental vehicle and blocked their way.

The male victim told police that a male individual, later identified as Ealey, exited the vehicle from the driver’s side of the sedan and walked toward their rented vehicle.

Ealey allegedly continued to walk toward the driver’s side of the rental and repeatedly knocked on the window while yelling at the male victim to roll the window down.

Failing to get the male victim to open his window, Ealey allegedly proceeded to the passenger side of the rental vehicle where the window was rolled down halfway and demanded that the female victim roll the window down completely before reaching in and grabbing a bag in the middle of both victims.

After Ealey took the bag, he allegedly ran back to his sedan before speeding off, the victims said.

Fortunately the victims took a photo of the red sedan and were able to describe their robber to police.

They described the robber as dark complected with a beard and a missing front tooth. Victims noted that he was wearing sunglasses, short pants, and a T-shirt.

At about 2:27pm, a police officer conducted a violator stop on a red Mazda 3 that matched the photo the victims took.

After the driver of the vehicle was secured, both victims were asked to identify the suspect and they both positively identified Ealey as the suspect from the robbery.

Ealey has been arrested before for burglary. His last arrest was back in 2020 when he was arrested for stealing a hydraulic jack from a tire shop in Kagman.