The Alaska State Troopers report that they have apprehended, with the help of numerous tips, the suspect they say is responsible for vehicle theft in Sterling on the Kenai Peninsula on April 25th.

The caller in that incident reported to authorities that the suspect, later identified as 43-year-old Homer resident Marco Ramirez, drove up to the St Theresa Road and Edgington address at mile 88 of the Sterling Highway at 9:53 am in a silver Sonata and walked to the front door wearing a mask, bandanna, and sunglasses. He knocked on the door prior to walking around the residence peering through the windows. Following that Ramirez proceeded to the attached garage where he stole a 2000 Chevy 1-ton pickup truck bearing the license plate GSS713 before fleeing the scene.

After an investigation, Ramirez was developed as a suspect and several tips were called in that aided in the apprehension of Ramirez on April 30th. Ramirez, who was identified through surveillance footage, was taken into custody at a residence on North Cohoe Loop Road in Kasilof. He was charged with Burglary 1, and Vehicle Theft 1. He was also arrested for previous warrants 

At the time of this most recent incident, Ramirez was being sought on two warrants, one for two counts of Burglary I, one count of Burglary II, and Felony Theft. The second was a Petition to Revoke Probation in a January 2021 case where he was convicted after taking a trooper on a high-speed chase and a run through the woods.

It was January 18th that the arresting officer spotted a Subaru being towed out of the ditch by a tow truck and stopped to investigate and made contact with Ramirez who then proceeded to give the trooper a false name saying he had no identification with him. He handed the officer a bank card, then rummaged around finding a credit card with someone else’s name.

The trooper went back to his vehicle to query dispatch about the name given him and found that dispatch had no information on that identity. As he was doing that the tow truck driver finished unhooking the Subaru and Ramirez slowly began driving away.

The trooper waved him over to the shoulder of the roadway and Ramirez, with his window rolled down replied, “What? I can’t hear you.” then sped away down the Sterling Highway. The trooper, with lights activated and siren sounding, gave pursuit. The chase reached speeds of 102 mph on the slippery winter roadway.

But, Ramirez would come to an abrupt stop and flee from the vehicle into the woods. The officer chased after him giving taser warnings, soon Ramirez, out of breath, would give himself up. He stated his real name and advised the trooper that he had a warrant for his arrest.

Ramirez would be convicted in that case for Failure to Stop and Violating Conditions of Release. He would spend 16 days in jail.

Within a month of his release, Ramirez was being sought for Burglary and Felony Theft for an incident in Nickolaevsk and another warrant was issued.

The vehicle stolen on April 25th has yet to be located. troopers are asking the public if they locate it to contact them at (907) 262-4453. The Homer Police Department posted a photo of the stolen truck.

The homeowner posted images on Facebook showing Ramirez casing the residence just prior to the theft of the truck.

Readers on the HPD Facebook page also posted their comments and instances of thefts from them carried out by Ramirez in the past. There are two separate postings on that page.

He has the first of two preliminary hearings on April 11th in Kenai court.

  Alaska, burglary, homer, sterling, theft, vehicle