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Man eludes capture

Saturday, May 8, 2010
By JAMIE BARRAND, Editor

ROACHDALE -- A Roachdale man eluded capture by police for several hours on Friday.

Roachdale Town Marshal Mike Mahoy attempted to stop a vehicle driven by Wesley A. Baker, 28, just before 1 p.m. on C.R. 1400N near the Montgomery County line, Mahoy said. Mahoy recognized Baker and knew there was an active warrant for Baker's arrest for a probation violation.

Baker got out of his vehicle and fled on foot. Mahoy called for backup, and units from the Indiana State Police, Putnam, Hendricks and Montgomery County sheriff's departments, Ladoga and Roachdale police departments and the Greencastle Fire Department Command Center responded in land and air vehicles, as well as K9 units.

"He's run from us before," Mahoy said of Baker.

Mahoy said he couldn't say for sure whether or not Baker was armed.

The search for Baker ended with his capture just before 6 p.m.

Rumors were swirling that shots had been fired in the incident, but Putnam County 911 Director Dave Costin said the only person to fire a gun was Mahoy, who fired warning shots in the air as Baker fled.

North Putnam Schools were placed on lockdown as a precaution, but students were dismissed at the normal times.

Baker was on probation in Putnam County for a March 2008 conviction on a Class A misdemeanor resisting law enforcement charge when he was arrested in Montgomery County for Class B misdemeanor failure to stop on June 18, 2009. A petition to revoke Baker's probation was filed on June 30, 2009, and an arrest warrant was issued on July 14, 2009. A re-arrest warrant was issued on April 14.

Baker's criminal record includes convictions for residential entry, battery, possession of paraphernalia and escape. Those convictions all occurred between 2007 and 2009.

He served a prison term for escape, and was released from prison on July 27, 2009.

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  • Or better yet Umad, you should become a cop and show everyone how you would do it different and catch the criminal everytime. Unless you know what you are talking about, go back to sleep.

    -- Posted by magoo55 on Sat, May 8, 2010, at 9:18 AM

  • HMMM SEEMS TO ME WE NEEDED ALL THOSE COUNTIES AND STATE POLICE WITH AIR UNITS AND THE GUNMAN WAGON, DONT FORGET THE K-9S GOTTA HAVE ALL THAT FOR A MAN WITH A MISDEMEANOR HUH?? WOULD HAVE BEEN A GOOD DAY TO ROB SEVERAL AREA BANKS IF YOU ASK ME

    -- Posted by ironmaiden on Sat, May 8, 2010, at 11:14 AM

  • What happen to town marshals being that "town" marshalls? Regardless of address town marshalls are hired to work within the town limits. It would upset me to pay a town marshall's salary and have him do more outside the town limits than inside.

    -- Posted by Cougars on Sat, May 8, 2010, at 11:48 AM

  • Good job mike.. I live in Roachdale and can say that during the day MIKE, Jason, and the other ROPD officers are patroling. Good job MIKE and ROPD,ISP,MONTGOMERY CO , NSPD, AND HENDRICKS CO. FOR CATCHING THE DIRTBAG..

    -- Posted by ???unknown on Sun, May 9, 2010, at 6:38 AM

  • why waste your time to speak your mind, only to find everyones comment was erased if it was not positive for the goof troop.now whoever wasted your time to erase my comment, go ahead and report it again,because i wont waste my time to post again.this is crappy for the paper to play this game.

    -- Posted by d46172 on Sun, May 9, 2010, at 7:11 AM

  • NPGrad2008 there are exceptions to everything. Responding and helping is different the starting a pursuit out of your territory, which I believe was the case here. Also, what goes up must come down sure glad those warning shots didn't hit someone!! I thought they were taught to not shoot warning shots for that very reason. At least that is what other officers tell me they were taught.

    -- Posted by Cougars on Sun, May 9, 2010, at 3:00 PM

  • There needs to be some clarifications to this article! The initial stop started on Indiana Street in Roachdale,I saw it, within city limits and continued to the county road less than 2 miles outside of Roachdale on the Putnam County side. The officer did start a foot pursuit not knowing if the "WANTED" person was armed or not. The warning shot was fired in the air not at the person. The Roachdale officer was the only one on scene and backup was in Greencastle. The Bainbridge Town Marshal was the closest one to respond and did not, but did find time to alert the schools and put them on lock down, not Mahoy. The qualifications for your Town Marshal are the same as a county or state officer. Officer Mahoy did attend the police academy in 2002 and has been an officer for many years. As for the 5-6 Roachdale officers, not true, there are only 4 with only 1 of those being paid besides Mahoy; you learn things when you take time to attend town board meetings. As far as all the other cops, Mahoy does not dispatch them, 911 and the State Police do, and he has no control over how many officers are there. As for the K-9 dogs the person ran into the woods and made it hard for foot pursuit to continue without backup. The helicopter was in the air for officer safety as well as looking for the suspect that could at any time have entered a home and took hostages. If you decide to run from the police, you need to pay the time. I look at it this way, we have one more no good looser off the streets for a while and we should be thankful for that. People need to realize that we are in the northern part of the county that does not see many county officers and we need to have officers like Mahoy that can be there in our times of needs. Warrants are issued for a reason and it is the job of these officers to know who is wanted and bring them in. They take an oath to protect and serve no matter where they are. Good job officer Mahoy and keep up the good work, there are people out there that know you are doing an impeccable job for the town of Roachdale. They are for the first time paying an officer that is actually doing the job he is paid to do.

    -- Posted by RDALERESIDENT on Mon, May 10, 2010, at 9:59 AM

  • Great job Mike!!! Glad your in Roachdale to take care of these issues....keep up the good work!!

    -- Posted by proudemt on Mon, May 10, 2010, at 11:01 AM

  • There are others that have earned their pay, they just aren't around anymore and weren't recognized for what they did. It would just be nice to see more patrolling around town like we used to have. People have gone back to their old ways. Mike does a good job otherwise.

    -- Posted by magoo55 on Mon, May 10, 2010, at 2:27 PM

  • umm i am confused about the whole june 18 2009 charges umm when it is written that he was released from prison in july of 2009. But were all only human i guess so i wont focus on the typo

    -- Posted by nannafu on Mon, May 10, 2010, at 8:17 PM

  • Why did Mahoy fire a warning shot? Is this standard procedure? He should be reprimanded at the very least.

    -- Posted by Harmony Church on Tue, May 11, 2010, at 5:47 PM

  • How can you reprimand someone for doing there job. This guy from the sound of it has been running from police for a while. If he is innocent then why did he run, better yet why did he just not turn himself in? He has a criminal record that is not so good and previous resisting law enforcment charges. These officers are trained and know when a cituation requires a warning shot. If Mr. Baker would have stopped and not ran there would have not been any warning shots. These officers put their lives on the line for you and I every day. In this crazy world today you never know what the other person might do, in this case the scum bag, that I am sure we support, is off the streets and will do his time behind bars and not in his truck running.

    -- Posted by RDALERESIDENT on Wed, May 12, 2010, at 9:49 AM

  • Rdaleresident, are you or have you been involved in law enforcement? You seem to think you know everything about it? Clarify this please.

    -- Posted by magoo55 on Wed, May 12, 2010, at 7:49 PM

  • I doubt it very seriously if the Training Cadre at the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy endorses or trains future police officers to fire warning shots.

    "Ok men, today you will learn when to fire warning shots and when not to fire warning shots",UNLIKELY. Firing shots into the air is dangerous and can result in fatalities or serious injury.

    -- Posted by Harmony Church on Thu, May 13, 2010, at 6:07 PM
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