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'Well dressed thief' admits to local crime
He may be known in some circles as "the Well Dressed Thief" but a 27-year-old former Greencastle man mostly wears just orange jumpsuits these days.
Shane Wesley Baker, who Thursday pleaded guilty in Putnam Circuit Court to one count of fraud, a Level 6 felony, has been spending recent days and weeks bouncing from jail to jail, courtroom to courtroom across central Indiana.
"I'm in five different jails about every other day," he offered rather matter of factly in response to a question from Judge Matthew Headley.
In addition to Putnam County, Baker is facing charges in Morgan, Hancock, Hamilton and Marion counties. He said he was recently sentenced to 15 years in prison in a Marion County case.
"They're all the same acts," Baker admitted, listing fraud, theft and forgery as the three dominant crimes in which he has been involved.
But it's not so much what he's done as how he's allegedly done it that has given rise to Baker's "Well Dressed Thief" moniker.
Most often well groomed and dressed in a business suit, dress shirt and tie, Baker would stroll into businesses, offices, schools and churches, looking for all the world as if he belong there. He even used a large Band-Aid to cover a tattoo on the right side of his neck, witnesses reported.
Once comfortably inside, he would steal wallets and purses from the unsuspecting people at work in those locations.
Just a couple of months ago, Baker and his alleged female accomplice, Monique Martin, 33, Indianapolis, achieved a good level of notoriety with videos detailing his exploits popping up on YouTube and a CrimeStoppers segment on WTHR that helped get Baker arrested for the Greencastle incident he has admitted committing.
Arrested May 18 in Bloomington after being seen "casing campus buildings" at Indiana University, Baker did an interview with WTHR, Channel 13 (available on YouTube), during which he said he was "embarrassed" by the crime spree and calls the "Well Dressed Thief" nickname "a terrible label I'll have to wear forever."
In court, Baker told Judge Headley he got heavily involved in drug use and was "into opiates real bad."
He was reportedly released last fall after a four-year prison sentence and says he almost immediately went back to using heroin.
To pay for that habit, he admittedly stole cash, checks and credit cards, using the stolen credit cards to purchase prepaid credit cards to buy the heroin in a cycle that continued until the theft was uncovered and the real owner would stop use of the stolen cards.
In the Greencastle incident that occurred May 12 between 1:17 and 3:06 p.m. at the DePauw University Julian Science Center, Baker stole credit cards belonging to a science professor, and within 11 minutes of the theft he used them at the two Speedway gas stations on the city's East Side. Authorities believe a similar incident may have occurred at the DePauw Admissions Office as well.
The three stolen cards were allegedly used by Baker and Martin for purchases of $25.62 in gasoline, three instances of $411.90 purchases (two $200 prepaid cards and fees), $205.95 and $207.87.
While investigating those instances, Greencastle Officer Darrel Bunten contacted DePauw Officer Matt Demmings who compared video surveillance footage from the Speedway stations and DePauw and found a match for the suspect vehicle.
Demmings also alerted Bunten to the WTHR news clip about the suspect dubbed the "Well Dressed Thief," and they learned that the suspect was Shane Wesley Baker of Putnam County.
When the local officers contacted Indianapolis Metro Police, they also learned that Baker was in custody after his Bloomington arrest by Indiana State Police. His girlfriend Martin, however, remains at large.
In the local case, Baker was charged with two counts of fraud (Level 6 felonies carrying sentence ranges of 6-30 months) for using credit cards that did not belong to him and one count of theft a Class A misdemeanor) for stealing the professor's wallet containing the cards and a reported $100 cash.
He pled guilty to one count of fraud with the two remaining counts dismissed in a plea agreement.
Baker is due to be sentenced at 9 a.m. Sept. 8 in Putnam Circuit Court.