Delaware State Police, Delaware
End of Watch: Thursday, January 6, 1972
Age: 24
Tour of Duty: 3 years
Badge Number: 170
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: January 5, 1972
Weapon Used: Handgun; .38 caliber
Suspect Info: Sentenced to life
Trooper David Yarrington and Trooper Ronald Carey were shot and killed in Pennsylvania by the female accomplice of a suspect they were struggling with.
The troopers were investigating an armed robbery at a motel on U.S. Route 202 near the Pennsylvania state line when they noticed the suspect's vehicle at a nearby hotel just over the state line. When they began to investigate the vehicle, they became engaged in a struggle with the 30-year-old male suspect. During the struggle, his 19-year-old girlfriend shot both troopers. Trooper Carey died on the scene, and Trooper Yarrington succumbed to his wounds the next day.
The next day a Maryland state trooper spotted the suspects, who refused to stop. During the high-speed chase near Centreville, the trooper fired a shot through the back window, the bullet lodging in the man's head, killing him. After his car crashed, the trooper took custody of his girlfriend. She told officials the troopers were beating her boyfriend to death. She said she pulled a revolver from her dress that accidentally discharged SIX times.
Law enforcement regarded the couple, who lived in Canada, as a modern-day "Bonnie and Clyde." They had committed several armed robberies all over Michigan and Ohio. The man had served a sentence in the Ohio Penitentiary for armed robbery.
The female was convicted of two counts of armed robbery and was sentenced to death. Her sentence was later commuted by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to life in prison. As of 2017, she was in prison.
Trooper Yarrington was a United States Navy veteran and had served with the Delaware State Police for just under 3 years. He and Trooper Carey became troopers at the same time. He was survived by his wife and child.