Sheriff identifies man killed after carjacking, chase

It was supposed to be a quick trek to the mailbox, he told the liquor store manager.

But within moments, it turned into something much more than that, shortly after noon on Monday.

The 62-year-old man was backing out of his driveway on St. Paul when a stranger approached him from the sidewalk and asked for a lift. He lived only a few blocks away on Fern, he said.

The driver agreed, but told him he had letters to mail first.

They drove to the mailboxes at 2525 W. Douglas, where a grocery store used to be. Because the driver’s window wouldn’t roll down on his 1992 Buick Roadster, the driver had to get out to deposit the mail.

When he returned to his car, the stranger – identified as 52-year-old Darren J. Baker of Wichita by the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office – had scooted over to the steering wheel and was starting to drive off. The Roadster owner grabbed the door handle to try to stop him, he later told Marilyn Appelhans, the manager of Maggie’s Retail Liquor, across the street at Douglas and Meridian.

“You know, people get killed for something like this. You better let go,” Baker told the driver, who complied.

Baker drove off with the Roadster, and the driver ran across the street to report the carjacking. Nearly half an hour later, a Goddard police officer noticed the Roadster commit a traffic infraction at Maple and 183rd Street West, and a chase ensued. Officers from several jurisdictions joined in as the chase extended west into Reno County.

It ended shortly after 1 p.m. in the 3800 block of West Parallel Road, just north of Cheney Lake, after the Roadster went into a ditch. Baker got out and shot at law enforcement officers, Reno County Sheriff Randy Henderson said. The officers returned fire, killing Baker.

None of the officers was injured.

Officers from four law enforcement agencies were involved in the shooting, Henderson said. Reports on the incident will be compiled and sent to the Reno County attorney for disposition, he said.

Kansas Bureau of Investigation agents are continuing their investigation into the shooting.

“It’s a good thing he let go of that car,” Appelhans said of the man whose Roadster was stolen.

Customers at the liquor store Tuesday were still talking about what happened the day before, she said.

They’re bringing their keys into the store with them, too.

Baker spent much of a six-year period incarcerated for crimes including drug possession and driving under the influence, according to Kansas Department of Corrections records. He was also convicted of attempting to elude law enforcement officers and absconded from parole twice. He was released from prison on March 31, 2005.

This story was originally published February 7, 2012 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Sheriff identifies man killed after carjacking, chase."