Delaware State Police, Delaware
End of Watch: Wednesday, January 5, 1972
Age: 29
Tour of Duty: 3 years
Badge Number: 69
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Date of Incident: January 5, 1972
Weapon Used: Handgun; .36 caliber
Suspect Info: Sentenced to life
Trooper Ronald Carey and Trooper David Yarrington 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 when they noticed the suspect's vehicle at a nearby motel 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 the troopers.
The next day a Maryland State Trooper spotted the suspects and gave chase. Near Centreville, the trooper fired a shot through the back glass, the bullet lodging in the back of the man's head. After the car crashed, he took custody of the female. The female suspect told officials the troopers were beating her boyfriend to death. When she pulled a revolver from her dress, it accidentally discharged SIX times. She was convicted of two counts of murder and sentenced to death. Her sentence was later commuted by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to life in prison.
Law Enforcement regarded the two as a modern-day "Bonnie and Clyde." They lived in Canada and had committed several armed robberies all over Michigan and Ohio. The man had served a sentence in the Ohio Penitentiary for armed robbery.
Trooper Carey served with the Delaware State Police for almost three years. He and Trooper Yarrington became troopers at the same time. He was survived by his wife and three children.