Apprehended man has history of drug abuse, theft, acquaintance says.
By Rob D’Amico
Marfa
What started as a possible theft of high-end rings at a local store on May 17 turned into a frightening encounter with the shop owner wrestling with the alleged thief’s car door, dragging him across Highland Avenue as he attempted to stop the suspect’s car from escaping.
Now, that suspect is in custody—Marcus Thibodeau, 38, of Chicago, who is awaiting extradition, initially charged with robbery, from Hidalgo County, New Mexico, back to Presidio County,
Raba Marfa owner Sal Tornabene outlined what happened on that Friday around 4 p.m. He noted a man in his store browsing items and went into a back room to deal with some deliveries. When he returned, the man was gone, but he walked over to where he was last seen and noted that two rings were missing. He found the man outside in his car. “I walked up to the window, and said, ‘Hey can you get out of the car?’” Tornabene recounted. “And he said, ‘What?’ ‘Because you stole from me.’ ‘How do you know I stole from you?’ ‘Because you’re wearing one of my rings.’”
Tornabene said he was “agitated” because the man was lying to him, so he grabbed the car door handle. What happened next was the man reversing––then accelerating at a high speed forward––with Tornabene still holding on to the door. “I’m going way faster than I should have been, and I’m wearing Birkenstocks,” he said. Eventually, Tornabene flew forward into the street, injuring his shoulder. He said he was in significant pain for days from the incident.
By the time police arrived, Thibodeau was nowhere to be found. But a description of his Honda CRV and a California license plate eventually led to his arrest in New Mexico the next day.
Marfa Police Chief Gilberto Carrillo posted about the incident on Facebook and said what would have been theft charges were upgraded to robbery because of that encounter. He said Sunday that Thibodeau was still in custody in Hidalgo County, but that on return to Presidio County, the charges could be again increased if it’s seen that his car was being used as a weapon for assault. Carrillo added that it appears there may be some drug charges in play in New Mexico as well. Tornabene said he heard Thibodeau was arrested with one of the rings and methamphetamine. One of the rings was still missing when Thibodeau was arrested.
It’s unclear why Thibodeau was in Marfa, but his LinkedIn page shows he attended the Arts Institute in Chicago and later taught art at Chicago public schools. A man contacted by Big Bend Sentinel, who knew Thibodeau, but didn’t want to be named to preserve his privacy, said Thibodeau stole a laptop and Apple watch from him in a Chicago hotel room two years ago.
The man said they had been in a rehabilitation program for drug addiction together and got to know each other well. The man said when he decided to end his life, he wanted to go out with a big finale, and he rented the hotel room with Thibodeau to party. When the man went to check out and returned, Thibodeau was gone, and so was his laptop and watch—which devastated him. “And I started panicking because I had made arrangements for things I still had to do in terms of finalizing notes to loved ones and whatnot,” the man said. When he texted Thibodeau pleading to get the laptop back, he said the response was, “I need it more than you do.”
The man added that while he did still end up trying to end his life that following day, it was unsuccessful, and he has been sober and off methamphetamine for two years now.