Murphy – A Culberson man is accused of twice ramming his pickup into his former girlfriend’s car at a local restaurant, then attacking her at a residence in Grape Creek, where he smashed her windshield before fleeing.
The assaults occurred on June 17. The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office arrested a suspect 12 days later at a local hotel. The suspect was identified as Robert Wiley Baker, 25, of 234 Blossom Lane.
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He was charged with assault with a deadly weapon, hit and run, injury to personal property, failure to appear on a felony warrant, assault on a female, injury to personal property, felony larceny, misdemeanor larceny and injury to personal property – nine charges in all. Baker was being held at the Cherokee County Detention Facility in lieu of a total of $21,000 secured bond.
The ex-girlfriend was in her vehicle to get lunch at the Arby’s parking lot at 1193 U.S. 64 West on June 17 when the incident started, according to Capt. David Williams of the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office.
“She was stopped in the parking lot when she said she observed her ex-boyfriend’s white Toyota Tacoma in the parking lot,” Williams said. “Without any warning or provocation, the Tacoma accelerated toward the victim’s vehicle and intentionally struck the rear driver side of her vehicle.”
As the victim tried to flee, Baker circled around the building, put his vehicle in reverse and backed into her vehicle, hitting the rear driver’s side and causing substantial damage, Williams said.
The victim and a witness, who were not identified, provided a description of Baker’s vehicle and license plate number. As law enforcement searched for Baker later that day, Cherokee County 911 Dispatch received another call from the victim.
She reported that she traveled in her vehicle to a residence off of Grape Creek Road, where Baker came out of the house and jumped on the hood and windshield, shattering it.
Deputies found Barker at a Murphy hotel on June 29. He was taken into custody without incident and appeared before a magistrate for an initial appearance.
Barker was scheduled to appear in Cherokee County District Court today at the courthouse.