Everett, Wash.
Published: Friday, October 5, 2007

County jail turned away rape suspect

The wanted man was later arrested, and county jail policies are now under review.

By Jim Haley
Herald Writer

 Snohomish County Jail procedures may soon change after an Everett man being sought on a rape charge couldn't initially get himself put behind bars, despite being wanted on a $1 million bail warrant.

Larry Donnell Baker, 35, of Everett, tried to surrender himself Wednesday after he was charged with first-deg ree rape.

When he showed up on the jail doorstep, a jail receptionist told Baker to go turn himself in at the nearby Snohomish County sheriff's office.

He soon wound up handcuffed and on the ground, but only after a sheriff's detective who had been looking for Baker spotted him in the courtyard at the county government complex in Everett.

As a result of the incident, procedures at the jail likely will change, Snohomish County corrections chief Steve Thompson said Thursday.

This isn't the only policy to come under scrutiny since Baker was arrested last month on suspicion of raping a teenager at knife-point.

Snohomish County judges also are talking about changing the way bail is set in serious felony cases. Baker was released last month after paying a bondsman $2,500, though he was arrested in connection with a violent crime.

The jail isn't like a hotel that anyone can check in to, officials said.

People turn themselves in at the jail several times a week.

When Baker showed up Wednesday, after being charged with rape, he didn't have identification or a court order, so a receptionist turned him away, telling him to go see the sheriff to sort things out, Thompson said.

That's been the jail's policy.

Jail officials now are contemplating changing the policy, to keep wanted people from getting the run-around. The change would involve telling someone who wants to surrender himself to please take a seat in the jail lobby.

The receptionist then would call police to take the person into custody, if appropriate, Thompson said.

"The receptionist didn't know (Baker) and did what she would normally do and sent him to the sheriff," Thompson said.

The jail is right to be cautious about taking in prisoners unless people have a court order. For instance, people have been known to pose as someone who is wanted, Thompson said. That's why corrections officers ask for legal identification from anyone trying to be booked.

"Now we may take an extra step and have them sit down in the lobby and call police," Thompson said. "But we wouldn't take them into custody unless we have authorization to do so, which would be confirmation of the warrant" or a court order.

As of Tuesday, Baker had moved out of his south Everett apartment and detectives thought he was on the run. A sheriff's detective contacted Baker's mother and girlfriend after the rape charge was filed in Snohomish County Superior Court. The officer told them it would be better for everyone if Baker gave himself up.

Mike Bruce, Baker's brother, found him at a friend's house and told him about the warrant. When Baker showed up at the jail, Bruce and their mother went with him.

Bruce said that he, his mother and Baker went from the jail to the sheriff's office as directed by the jail receptionist.

They were told by the sheriff's receptionist to go to the Everett Police Department, Bruce said.

They were headed for the police department when sheriff's detective Chris Leyda spotted Baker and arrested him at gunpoint, Bruce said.

Baker's mother, Lesha Bruce, said she talked with Leyda on Wednesday and told the detective she'd find her son and he'd surrender.

"I told (Leyda) I'd bring him in. 'You don't have to pull a gun,'" Lesha Bruce said.

Sheriff's spokeswoman Rebecca Hover said Baker's claim of trying to surrender at the sheriff's office does not appear as clear-cut as portrayed.

"Nobody came in and identified themselves as Larry Baker," Hover said. "So that's not an effort to turn themselves in."

A man did approach a sheriff's receptionist Wednesday but declined to give his name or state his business before he left, Hover said. A woman also came in inquiring about how someone surrenders, she said.

She also didn't leave a name and left, Hover said.

Normally a duty officer would be called to the reception area if someone said they wanted to surrender.

"We don't know who it was who came in," Hover said. "(Baker) didn't come in here and say he wanted to turn himself in. That's not trying to turn yourself in. That doesn't cut it."

Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or jhaley@heraldnet.com.
© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA