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Woman walking in middle of highway carried out of harm’s way by deputies

Last week a couple who lives on State Road 54 in eastern Greene County woke up to their dogs barking and the sound of a car horn. When they checked outside, they discovered a woman they did not know was sitting in one of their vehicles. They called the sheriff’s department.

Jennifer Rose Baker

The unknown person was later identified as Jennifer Rose Baker, 35, of Bloomfield.

Greene County Sheriff’s Deputy Alan Jackson responded to the couple’s home after dispatch got a call early Wednesday, August 29, from a woman saying there was someone inside her car.

The caller said her husband had gone outside to check. She said they did not know this person but she had blonde hair, a tattoo on her arm, was wearing a pink or purple dress and black flip-flops and was carrying a bag.

When the deputy arrived, he found the husband standing outside in the couple’s front yard with Baker. The husband said after he woke up to dogs barking and heard a car horn, he went outside and saw Baker sitting in his wife’s vehicle, in the back seat with the doors locked.

Deputy Jackson reported Baker told him she was just sitting in the car to relax but admitted she didn’t know who the car belonged to or who lived at the home where the car was parked. He also reported Baker had slurred speech, poor balance and was very combative.

Baker allegedly said she was trying to get to the gas station up the road to be picked up and she then took off and started walking in the middle of SR 54.

Deputy Jackson said he tried to get her off the highway but she resisted. He said due to the totality of the circumstances and that she was endangering herself by walking in the middle of the highway, he began to detain her. She resisted until she was finally secured.

GCSD Deputy Davis Aerne had also arrived on the scene to assist, and when Baker refused to walk or comply with their requests, the two deputies carried Baker off the highway.

Jackson said after Baker was secured in his patrol vehicle, she repeatedly slammed her head against the rear side window.

Baker was booked in around 6:20 a.m. on Wednesday, August 29, to the Greene County Jail where her bond was set at $3,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed. As of early Monday, September 4, she had not posted bond and remained in jail.

Baker was scheduled to appear in Greene Superior Court today, Tuesday, September 4, for an initial hearing on charges of:

  • Unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle, a Class B misdemeanor,
  • Public intoxication – endangers their life, a Class B misdemeanor, and
  • Refusal to aid an officer, a Class B misdemeanor.