NEWS

Pursuit of accused bandit ends in Muncie crash

Douglas Walker

The Star Press

Police work at the scene of a wreck after a high-speed chase on Bethel Avenue Thursday night. According to a press release issued by state police, the driver, Thomas Baker, was wanted in connection with a bank robbery that occurred in Cloverdale earlier in the day. Baker, 43, suffered non-life-yhreatening injuries after crashing his vehicle while fleeing police westbound on Bethel Avenue.

MUNCIE -- A suspect in a bank robbery in Cloverdale was captured Thursday night in western Delaware County after a police chase ended in a crash.

Thomas Aaron Baker, 43 -- formerly of Muncie and more recently of Cloverdale -- led an Indiana State Police trooper on a chase that began on Muncie's northwest side and proceeded west on Bethel Avenue to Delaware County Road 700-W, a T-intersection that saw Baker's car crash into an embankment.

According to an Indiana State Police press release, Baker had to be extricated from his damaged vehicle, and then was treated for non-life-threatening injuries at IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital.

Baker is a suspect in a Thursday afternoon armed robbery at Our Community Bank in Cloverdale. The bandit displayed a handgun during the holdup.

Authorities received a tip that Baker was staying at a Muncie hotel, and the trooper observed the felon's Saturn on the city's northwest side, setting the stage for the chase.

Formal charges in the Cloverdale robbery have not yet been filed, and Delaware County charges are also likely in the wake of Thursday's night's chase.

Cloverdale, in Putnam County, is about 100 miles southwest of Muncie.

At the time of Thursday's arrest, Baker was wanted on warrants issued in Hendricks County, where he was charged Feb. 27 with obtaining a controlled substance by fraud, theft, criminal trespass and deception, and in Randolph County, where he is accused of probation violations stemming from a 2006 forgery conviction.

He also faces charges, filed Feb. 4 in Clay County, of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud and deceit.

The ex-Muncie man's long criminal record also includes convictions in:

-- Delaware County, for obtaining a controlled substance by fraud and theft in 2014.

-- Henry County, obtaining a controlled substance by fraud in 2009.

-- Wayne County, for forgery in 2007.

-- Morgan County, obtaining a controlled substance by fraud in 1999, and producing a fake prescription in 2002.

-- Putnam County, for theft in 1994, possession of a controlled substance in 1995, fraud and theft in 1997, forgery in 1998 and fraud in 1999.

Authorities also questioned, but did not arrest, a woman who had apparently been visiting with Baker at a Muncie hotel.

Contact news reporter Douglas Walker at (765) 213-5851. You can also follow him on Twitter @DouglasWalkerSP.