A Leesburg man with a long criminal rap sheet is back behind bars after he reportedly pointed a gun at his mother and told her he was going to “blow her head off.”
David Michael Baker is being held in the Lake County Jail on $25,000 bond after being picked up a warrant Thursday – a week after the incident occurred at his mother’s house in the 1200 block of Penn Street. Baker and his wife also live at the residence, according to the arrest affidavit.
Leesburg police officers responded to a weapons complaint the home at around 2:30 a.m. on Dec. 8. They met with Baker in the front yard and detained him in handcuffs, the affidavit said.
The victim told an officer that Baker had been acting strangely all day. She said she went into the garage at around 2 a.m. to make sure everything was locked up when she saw him sitting in the corner of the garage, holding a small silver handgun. The victim said Baker pointed the gun at her and said he was going to blow her head off. The victim said she told Baker that would be better than seeing him in his current condition, according to the affidavit.
The victim said she went back into the house and Baker followed. She said he kicked the back door of the house, trying to get it to open. The victim said she told Baker to stop and that she was going to call the police. She said she didn’t know what kind of gun he had and that he possibly disposed of it after hearing she was going to call the police. The victim said she saw several bullets on the floor in a room above the garage, the affidavit said.
The officer then met with Baker, who denied having or pointing a gun at the victim. He said he was in the garage, cleaning up, when the victim came in and told him to keep the noise down. Baker said they argued but he never threatened the victim. He said the bullets in the room above the garage belong to the victim. Officers searched the garage and residence and didn’t find a firearm, but they did find 34 .22-caliber rounds in the room above the garage, according to the affidavit.
Baker’s wife, who was home at the time of the incident, told officers she didn’t see or hear him threaten the victim, but she heard someone firing a gun in the back yard earlier in the evening. She said she knows Baker owns a .22-caliber handgun, but she didn’t know where it might be, the affidavit said.
The victim provided a written statement, while Baker and his wife declined to put their stories in writing. After not finding the weapon, officers did not charge Baker at the time of the incident, according to the affidavit.
Another officer took over the case on Monday and compared the victim’s sworn, written statement with what she said the night of the incident. The stories were consistent, and the victim added in her written statement that Baker had been in and out of the residence all evening threatening her, the affidavit said.
Police records show multiple responses to the residence over the last 12 months, mostly for disturbances between Baker and the victim. Baker’s criminal history check shows arrests in Washington, Oregon, and Florida for offenses including grand theft, trespassing, aggravated battery, burglary, burglary with battery, domestic battery, criminal mischief, forgery, and narcotic offenses, according to the affidavit.
A warrant was issued Tuesday charging Baker with aggravated domestic battery with a deadly weapon and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. An additional simple domestic battery charge was added later. Baker will face the charges in Lake County Court on Jan. 3.
