Washington County commissioner gripes over deputy sheriff who wrote him a ticket

After Katrina Baker called the Washington County 911 center on July 12 to report a verbal confrontation between she and her husband, Washington County Commissioners President Terry L. Baker (R), three Washington County sheriffs deputies arrived at the Bakers’ Clear Spring home shortly after 10:00 p.m.

Katrina Baker, 50, met Deputy G. Davis in the driveway of her home and told him that she and her husband were having a domestic dispute that night, and she was afraid their verbal altercation would escalate, according to Davis’ report.

Davis’ notes state that Mrs. Baker claimed that her husband verbally and physically assaulted her on July 8 at their cabin in Pocahontas, West Virginia, calling her a “cunt” in front of her sister-in-law, Mrs. Bakers’ sister, and later “slapped her twice in the right side of her face and once on her neck.”

Mrs. Baker told Deputy Davis that her husband left their West Virginia home shortly after physically assaulting her.

Davis asked Mrs. Baker if her husband assaulted her in the past.

“Ugh, I can’t tell you how many times,” Baker told Davis.

“And, like I said, once he comes at me, I go at him…to defend myself. And sometimes, you know, you can, and sometimes you can’t. I’ve always kept everything quiet because, I just, I don’t know. I guess, just, the good wife, I don’t know. I can’t make him look bad.”

A Miner Detail filed a public information request to obtain Deputy Davis’ police report. Read his full report below.

According to the deputy’s notes, Deputy Walck and Sergeant Jones interviewed Commissioners President Baker in the couple’s living room.

Mr. Baker confirmed that a verbal argument ensued between him and his wife that evening, but he repeatedly denied ever physically assaulting his wife, according to Davis’ police report and the body camera footage.

“She’s hit me over the years; I’ve never laid a hand on the lady,” Baker told the two sheriffs deputies.

“I don’t have a mean bone in my body,” Baker said multiple times.

Baker, 62, a former school teacher, later told the deputies that he “must be having a bad week,” referring to a July 2 motor vehicle violation.

Baker was cited on July 2 for “driving a vehicle on a highway with a suspended registration” by Washington County Sheriff’s Deputy Louis Alvarez, according to Maryland court records. He was stopped at 5:31 a.m. on July 2 on Interstate 70 eastbound at exit 24, court records show.

“I just got a ticket from, uh, Alvarez, or whatever in the heck his name is. Wait until I run into him!” Baker told sheriff’s deputy.

“I was going to work at 5:30 in the morning last week. He pulls me over, and I don’t know how he got my tag, cuz he don’t have a tag reader I found out. And he pulls me over, comes up and asking me for my driver’s license and registration, and I said, ‘Did I do something wrong?’ Cuz you know, when you see your sirens – first thing I look at is my speed, doing 64 miles per hour. I said ‘I know I wasn’t speeding.'”

Baker said the police officer who pulled him over gave him a $150 ticket for driving on a suspended license related to an overdue emissions inspection.

Growing irritated, Baker told the two deputies that a warning would have sufficed over the ticket he was issued.

Baker said he’s going take the ticket to court.

In a separate video recorded by police, Mrs. Baker told Deputy Davis that her husband feels “entitled,” ostensibly because of his position as a county commissioner.

A Miner Detail has been unable to reach Mr. Baker for comment.

Later, Mr. Baker told the deputies that he was “going to take it to the newspaper tomorrow,” referring to his wife calling the police on him.

Last Thursday, Katrina Baker withdrew her petition for a protective order that she filed against her husband. The husband-and-wife couple told District Court Judge Mark D. Thomas that they reached a settlement “regarding marital issues.”

Baker’s attorney, D. Bruce Poole, told media after the hearing that “Mr. Baker did not commit the assault alleged and he did not abuse his wife.”

Katrina Baker and Terry Baker are separating, according to Poole.

Mrs. Baker’s legal counsel, Kelly Clopper, a staff attorney for Citizens Assisting and Sheltering the Abused, issued a brief statement after the hearing, telling media that Mrs. Baker stands by her original statement that her husband physically assaulted her at their West Virginia home.

Baker is seeking a fourth term on the Commissioner board.