Police: Buggy Robber Also Targeted Amish With Bad Checks – Helped By His Wife

Following the suspect’s arrest earlier this month, I wasn’t expecting another piece to the Amish buggy robbery story, but here it is.

According to police, the man accused of armed buggy robbery had also been targeting the Amish in less-violent ways. Namely, writing bad checks to Amish stores in which he and an accomplice would acquire goods and attempt to get cash back from the store.

Here’s what went down, via WKBN:

WILMINGTON Twp., Pa. (WKBN) — A man accused of armed robbery and his wife are facing forgery charges after allegedly passing bad checks at grocery stores.

According to a criminal complaint, Pennsylvania State Police were dispatched to an Amish community grocery store in Wilmington Township on April 1. The owner of the store said two personal checks received as payment the day prior were invalid, as the account on the checks no longer existed.

Reports state that a male and female entered the store on March 31, purchased $264.62 in merchandise and asked for $60 in cash back.

The owner said a woman entered the store later in the day, requesting an additional $200 in cash back and was refused an amount that high. The woman then passed a check for $39.82 in merchandise, and the owner asked for her license, which she said she forgot, reports state. The owner then watched her leave the store and wrote down her license plate.

Police obtained the checks and connected them back to a personal bank account of a deceased woman from Volant. They identified the suspects as West Middlesex couple Todd and Gina Baker, based on the car’s registration.

So it turns out Toddy Baker’s wife Gina is allegedly involved with the Amish-targeting activities of her husband. Here was Gina’s role:

A criminal complaint states that Gina Baker told police she and Todd passed checks from Todd’s deceased grandmother’s account at various Amish stores over several days. She said she filled out the check because Todd “didn’t know how” to, according to reports.

Gina was charged with four counts of forgery and bad checks and one count of theft by deception. Details on her bail were not available, but she is not currently listed in the Mercer County Jail and was arraigned on Monday. Her next court date has not been set.

The Amish store owner said that Todd Baker had also been “providing power washing services” to Amish in the area.

So the Amish were at least fairly well-known to him. Besides the legal business services he provided them, he apparently came to understand different ways that cash could be (illegally) acquired from them.

This story also makes me wonder about one unexplained aspect of the buggy robbery story.

In those robbery attempts, there was an unnamed driver who ended up identifying Todd Baker as the suspect. Was that person also Todd Baker’s alleged partner in this bad checks scam, namely Gina Baker?

The positive out of this story – and the publicity it’s gotten – is hopefully spreading the word to other would-be criminals considering targeting the Amish that it’s not as “easy pickings” as they might imagine.

Story after story after story of Amish-targeting criminals getting caught keep driving that point home.

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