Ramos Arrested at Daily Record

Stephen Ramos, who started work in September as night editor at the Benton County Daily Record, was arrested Nov. 2 at the newspaper office in Bentonville on a felony theft charge out of Blytheville.

Ramos, 43, who said he once served as news editor and political columnist for Mexico City’s 900,000-circulation daily newspaper, was scheduled to be transferred to jail in Blytheville on Nov. 8.

Ramos is charged with felony theft in connection with the disappearance of about $5,000 worth of equipment from the Blytheville Courier News when he left his job there on Jan. 1, 1999. The missing items included a Macintosh laptop computer, Nikon camera and about $1,000 worth of computer software.

David Tennyson, publisher of the Courier News, said he notified police after seeing a blurb in the Arkansas Press Association newsletter saying Ramos had returned to Arkansas and was working in Bentonville.

Tennyson said Ramos worked for the Courier News for about two months before disappearing on New Year’s Day. Tennyson said the software was already installed on the newspaper’s computer system and the laptop and camera were old, but it was the principle of the matter.

“It was mostly junk,” he said. “But I don’t like people stealing from me, even if it’s just a quarter.”

Tennyson said he heard from two of Ramos’ other employers — in Missouri and New Mexico — who said Ramos did the same thing when he left those jobs.

Mike Richardson, Mississippi County’s prosecuting attorney, said Ramos disappeared after being initially charged with the crime. He was arrested May 13, 1999, in Laredo, Texas, and returned to Blytheville. He paid the $20,000 bail, thanks to Bail Bonds Now of Flippin, then didn’t show up for court as scheduled on Sept. 7.

“They and the sheriff’s office have been chasing him for two years — in Texas, Missouri and Oklahoma,” Richardson said.

According to his police record, Ramos has been sentenced to serve jail time on five separate occasions, four times in Texas and once in Arkansas. Richardson said most of the arrests were for felony theft, larceny, fraud or hot checks. Bond will be set high in Mississippi County so Ramos will be unable to post bail and flee again, Richardson said.

The Daily Record reported Ramos’ arrest in its issues on Nov. 4 and Nov. 6.

“Everybody was absolutely shocked to learn about the accusations against him,” said Kent Marts, editor of the Daily Record. “In the weeks that Steve was here, he had forged a number of close friendships and had served as a catalyst for greater emphasis on many fronts in the newsroom.”

We reported about Ramos being hired at Bentonville in this column on Oct. 15. It now appears that he falsified much of his resume and doesn’t have college degrees from the University of Texas and Southern Methodist University as he initially said.