A Bloomfield woman suspected of stealing a car on Antioch Road in the Bloomfield area, said she didn’t take it, didn’t know who did and didn’t know how the car got to Linton. An officer said she was sitting behind the wheel with the keys.

Jennifer Rose Baker, 36, of Bloomfield, was arrested Saturday evening, December 7, by Deputy Davis Aerne of the Greene County Sheriff’s Department following an investigation that started late Thursday, December 6.

Around 11 p.m. that Thursday, a woman called the sheriff’s department and said Baker took the keys to a car that was parked in the driveway, then drove off in the vehicle that didn’t belong to Baker or the caller.

When Deputy Aerne arrived at the caller’s home on East Antioch Road, he was told Baker had been staying there for three or four days and while the resident was in another room, Baker took the keys from a pocket or a purse. After she was confronted, she allegedly then left in the car.

The vehicle was a dark blue Chevrolet Cobalt that belonged to a man who was incarcerated in the Greene County Jail so Deputy Aerne interviewed the owner. When informed his vehicle had been stolen, he said he did not give the caller permission to drive the car but he did not have a problem if she did drive it. On the other hand, he said he had never given Baker permission to drive his car.

Around 5:45 p.m. the next day, Officer Adam King of the Linton Police Department had located the car in Linton and was talking to Baker then transported her to the sheriff’s department.

Officer King reported he conducted a welfare check at a residence on 9th Street SE in Linton and noticed the car with Baker behind the wheel. After verifying the car was stolen, he asked Baker to exit the vehicle. She did, with keys in hand.

When Baker was interviewed by Deputy Aerne, Baker allegedly said she didn’t have the car but was there when it was found, and that she didn’t know who took the car or how it got there.

Deputy Aerne noted Baker has previous convictions for theft in both Monroe and Putman counties.

Baker was booked in to jail around 7 p.m. Her bond was set at $4,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed. She posted $400 and was released later that night.

When she appears in Greene Superior Court for an initial hearing set for this Thursday, December 19, she will be facing a charge of auto theft involving theft of the entire automobile, a Level 6 felony.