Alaska State Troopers last Saturday arrested a Homer man wanted on several warrants and who was a suspect in a vehicle theft from a Sterling home. According to a press release, troopers found and arrested Marco Ramirez, 43, following continued trooper effort and several citizen tips.
Homer Police last week had put out an alert on its Facebook social media page seeking information on Ramirez.
“All right super sleuths, it’s time to go to work,” police wrote on Facebook. “Our friends over at the Alaska State Troopers would like to talk to Marco Ramirez. … Mr. Ramirez likes to take things that don’t belong to him — like hard working people’s vehicles and such.”
In an April 25 trooper dispatch, troopers wrote that an unknown person drove up to a Sterling home in a silver Sonata car. He wore a mask, a bandana and glasses covering his face and knocked on the door of the home. The person then looked through the windows, walked around the house and entered an attached garage and stole a 2000 white Chevrolet pickup truck bearing license place GSS 713 with a snowplow attachment and pickup bed rack.
Troopers said through their investigation they identified Ramirez as a suspect.
According to Alaska Court online records, Ramirez has a prior conviction in an Oct. 12, 2020, case of second-degree theft, a felony, and first-degree criminal trespassing. According to one victim in that case, Pete Velsko, Ramirez stole jewelry, a handgun and Velsko’s dog tags from when he served in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War. Ramirez also took a piece of shrapnel which just missed Velsko in one attack during the war. None of the items have been recovered. Ramirez also was ordered to pay $2,2oo in restitution to Velsko and his family.
The stolen Chevy truck remains missing, troopers said. Anyone with information on the truck’s location can call troopers at 907-262-4453.
Reach Michael Armstrong at marmstrong@homernews.com.
The white 2000 Chevrolet truck Alaska State Troopers allege Marco Ramirez stole from a Sterling home on April 25, 2022. Troopers arrested Ramirez on several warrants, but the truck with license plate GSS-713 remains missing. (Photo provided, Alaska State Troopers through Homer Police Department)
