LAKE ARIEL, WAYNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)— Police had a man in custody who they say racially harassed his neighbor for about two years. He was released on $100,000 bail.
State police and local police say they have been responding to the 200 block of Ridgewood Circle, Lake Ariel, for reports of Ronald Barillo calling his neighbor racial slurs since September 24, 2020.
From September 24, 2020, to February 8, 2023, officials say law enforcement was called to their residences to cite Barillo for racial harassment eight times. From those eight times, Barillo was ordered to pay $1,600 for racial epithets, harassment, and repeat offenses.
According to investigators, Barillo also put up a cutout of a sasquatch and a smaller orangutan with its foot on a Chewbacca mask on his property facing his neighbors.
Police said they spoke with Barillo and say he admitted to calling them slurs and said they should go back to Africa. He claimed the orangutan was in fact a smaller sasquatch, not an orangutan.
Barillo has been charged with six counts of ethnic intimidation, twelve counts of stalking, and six counts of harassment.
He was arrested and released on a $100,000 unsecured bail. His next court date is April 5 at the Wayne County Courthouse.
