Alleged Serial Rapist Arrested After Good Samaritan Tackles Suspect

An alleged serial rapist is behind bars thanks to the help of a Good Samaritan who tackled the suspect while he was running from police. 

Ray Rentie Jr. faces multiple charges of forcible oral sodomy, robbery with a firearm and a felon in possession of a firearm following the Dec. 11 incident. 

Witnesses told News 9 Rentie was minding his business at the Don Quixote Club near I-44 and Northwest 23rd Street when he followed a female bartender into the bathroom.  

The bartender told police Rentie sexually assaulted the woman at gunpoint. 

“He held her inside the bathroom, took her purse, robbed her at gunpoint and then took off out of the bar,” Kevin Barnicoat, who was at the bar at the time of the assault, said. “She sat in there for a few minutes because she was freaked out about the situation. When she came out, she told the manager here and she yelled at us.” 

Barnicoat and others jumped into action, tracking Rentie down at a nearby laundromat. The suspect was running from police when Barnicoat was able to tackle him to the ground. 

“You could hear the cops screaming,” Barnicoat said. “You could hear him running around yelling and screaming. When he came around the corner, I knew who it was (and) tackled him to the ground. They (police officers) said ‘Thank you, I’ve got it,’ and I backed off and let them do their job.” 

The bartender at Don Quixote Club was not the only victim. 

Police also claim Rentie walked into other nearby businesses to commit sexual assaults of more women. During one instance, OCPD alleged that he hit a woman on the head with his gun. 

Barnicoat said the attack on the bartender is like an attack on family. 

“We’re a pretty tight knit group here. There is a lot of regulars,” Barnicoat said. “Up in the 20s and 30s of people that come in here every day and you know everybody in the room.” 

Rentie is being held on a $750,000 bond. 

Bar patrons believe a dangerous man is off the streets. 

“You reap what you sow,” Barnicoat said. “You chose this now you have to deal with consequences. You made the bed, now you have to lay in it.