"Armed and dangerous" kidnapping suspect caught without incident

The search for a Poplar Bluff man who authorities wanted in connection with a recent assault and kidnapping ended Monday afternoon when he surrendered without incident.

“Ronnie Allen (Jr.), we got him out of 1104 Hickory St.,” said Poplar Bluff Police Chief Danny Whiteley. “He was hiding in the attic, and we talked him into coming down. … He surrendered to us without any further incident” just before 4 p.m.

Whiteley said officers developed information that lead to Allen’s whereabouts Monday.

Authorities had been searching for the 39-year-old since the weekend.

Just before midnight Friday, Allen is “accused of assaulting, firing a weapon at and tying up a 41-year-old male victim” inside a residence in the 900 block of Hickory Street, said police Lt. Josh Stewart.

The victim, according to Detective Steve McCane’s probable-cause statement, had gone to the Hickory Street residence looking for his vehicle and his girlfriend.

“Upon his arrival, he was confronted by Ronnie Allen and forced into the back bedroom,” McCane said. “Once in the bedroom, Ronnie Allen began beating him up and pulled a pistol out and shot two different times toward him.”

Allen demanded the victim’s bank card and PIN number, McCane said.

After taking the debit card, Allen allegedly tied the victim up, McCane said.

The male victim was left tied up inside the home, said Stewart, who indicated the man was bound with an electrical cord and tape.

The tape was wrapped around his “face, mouth, hands and legs; the cord was wrapped all around him,” Stewart said.

Allen also is accused of kidnapping the male victim’s 41-year-old girlfriend and stealing the male victim’s vehicle.

The incident, Stewart said, occurred at a residence where Allen was “crashing.” His alleged victims reportedly did not live there.

At some point, Stewart said, the female victim, “prior to our call, was able to slip a note to another male subject that she and the suspect (Allen) came into contact with while she was with (Allen). … The note mentioned the address on Hickory.”

That man called authorities, who responded to the Hickory Street address and located the first victim, Stewart said.

In processing the scene, a bullet hole was found in a bedroom door, which was consistent with the male victim’s statement regarding “where everybody would have been positioned” in the house.

During the early morning hours Saturday, “the female victim was located in the 900 block of Pershing Street,” Stewart said. “She was running barefoot and screaming that someone was trying to kill her.”

Details about how the female victim got away from Allen are not known at this time, said Stewart, who indicated she was “visibly dirty and appeared scared” when she was found.

Both victims were taken to the hospital for treatment, Stewart said.

The male victim, he said, had lacerations on top of his head, as well as a black eye and other facial swelling and bruising. One of his hands also reportedly was swollen.

Stewart said the victim’s vehicle was found later in the day Saturday in Corning, Arkansas; however, it was being operated by someone other than Allen.

The driver, he said, has “no connection to that house.”

Arkansas authorities, he said, picked the driver up on different charges, but “I don’t know what they have him on.”

With Allen’s arrest, he will be held on a $100,000 cash or surety bond. As late Monday afternoon, Allen was in police custody and was expected to be booked into Butler County jail.

Allen is charged with the Class A felony of first-degree robbery, the Class E felony of unlawful use of a weapon and the Class A misdemeanor of third-degree kidnapping. Additional charges are expected to be filed against Allen.