Manassas Journal Messenger | Fugitive arrested by U.S. Marshals

A fugitive wanted in the summertime rape of an Alexandria woman was arrested Monday just south of Haymarket by the U.S. Marshal Service Capital Area Regional Task Force, Alexandria police said.

Marshals, in coordination with area police including the Prince William Street Crimes Unit, arrested Rigoberto Ramos, 24, of El Salvador, at the intersection of Va. 234 and Interstate 66 around 6 p.m., marshals said.

Ramos was transported to Alexandria where he was charged with the July 2 rape of a 22-year-old Alexandria woman, said Amy Bertsch, Alexandria police spokeswoman.

Ramos had strong ties to Dale City and the U.S. 1 corridor in Northern Virginia, including Prince William County, Bertsch said.

Marshals watched a girlfriend of Ramos for three days, said Kevin Connolly, Fugitive Task Force Director.

She picked up Ramos in her car Monday afternoon and was followed by marshals who made the arrest outside a restaurant in the 7400 block of Sudley Road.

Ramos had a 9 mm Beretta pistol in his possession. There was also a 3-year-old in the car, believed to be Ramos’ child, Connolly said.

“[The marshals] are such a great resource to have,” Bertsch said. “They brought in a man wanted for a vicious crime and someone capable of committing more in the future.”

According to Alexandria police, Ramos and his friend Jose Daniel Bonilla, were at Holmes Run Park in Alexandria on the afternoon of the rape, police said.

They walked around the park looking for someone to rape. They selected a woman and took her to a brushy area where they raped her in broad daylight, police said.

Several people witnessed the event and Alexandria police arrested Bonilla on July 16.

Ramos, who also had ties in Florida and California, fled to his native El Salvador, but after a six-month-long investigation was believed to be back in Northern Virginia.

“We had our guys watching his girlfriend all weekend hoping she would lead us to him,” Connolly said. “Eventually we saw someone who looked like him get picked up in a car and then we moved in to get him.”

Ramos was known in Woodbridge and Dale City as “Barbita,” the Spanish word for the style of beard he wore.

An America’s Most Wanted report Aug. 28, described Ramos as “a street hustler who often brokers services from car repairs to prostitutes in Latino neighborhoods.”