Missouri Man Arrested on Charges in Boone County

Boone County authorities have arrested a Missouri man following what was reported earlier this month as a possible hostage situation.

According to the probable cause affidavit filed Thursday, 54-year-old Ricky Dale White has been charged with felony counts of kidnapping, residential and commercial burglary and robbery. He also faces misdemeanors of theft of property and criminal attempt.

The incident unfolded during the late morning of Dec. 2 at a hotel in Lead Hill.

Officers were advised a male subject, later identified as White, had reportedly held a female against her will. The woman had managed to free herself and ran to a nearby café.

The woman told officers she had heard what she believed to be someone trying to break into an apartment next to the one she was renting. The apartment of the hotel manager next to the woman’s is connected to a laundry room.

The woman said when she looked into the laundry room, she observed a man attempting to take the connecting door off the hinges.

When she confronted the man, later identified as White, he grabbed her arm, moved the door out of the way and drug her into the hotel manager’s apartment. She said White took her cellphone and asked if she had already called 911.

She said she was drug through the apartment as White yelled he needed money and rummaged through dresser drawers and clothing.

The woman said she was pulled into the front office of the hotel through a connecting door from the manager’s living room. White reportedly attempted to open a cash box and went through some envelopes under the front desk.

A woman at the nearby cafe had called to report the incident. She said when the victim ran into the café, White fled in a vehicle with Missouri tags.

Officers located the vehicle at the Missouri state line and conducted a traffic stop.

White was taken into custody and transported to the Boone County jail.

He allegedly told officers he had spent most of the rent money his wife had given him on a gambling debt. He said he knew the manager of the hotel would be gone during the day because he had stayed at the establishment in the past.

He said he had traveled from Springfield to the hotel, knowing he could gain entry from the laundry room to the office by removing the connecting door. However, the victim had interrupted him.

White said he took the woman’s cellphone and threw it out of his car window as he traveled back to Missouri.

White’s bond was set at $100,000.

(From KTLO)