'Bully' jailed for sucker-punching disabled man in the face and running away

Barry Robert Baker Jr. has been sentenced to three to six years behind bars after sucker-punching a 22-year-old man with cerebral palsy. Photo / Chester County District Attorney's Office

The tears Barry Robert Baker jnr shed in court as he begged for mercy did nothing to change what the judge thought of him.

"You are a bully. You are a predator," said Judge William P. Mahon of the Court of Common Pleas in Chester County, Pennsylvania, according to the Daily Local News. "You are a coward. In 18 years on the bench I have never had such tangible evidence of someone's moral compass being so askew."

For his crimes — he punched a man with cerebral palsy in the face and fled authorities — the state generally recommends between three and 14 months in prison, with six months probation. But Baker, 29, of Coatesville, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to a total of three to six years behind bars.

And the county's prosecutors and law enforcement think Baker had it coming.
It all began in the early morning hours of May 10, in a brutal scene that spurred rage across the internet.

Baker and his friends were outside a 7-Eleven convenience store in West Chester at 2.30am when a 22-year-old man with cerebral palsy parked his SUV. As he walked into the store, Baker started making fun of his disability, stumbling around to mock the way he walked, according to the Chester County District Attorney's Office.

When the man came back out of the store, Baker continued to imitate the way he moved. Then, as the 22-year-old stood in front of his white SUV, Baker hit him with a sucker punch, and fled.

As Baker ran around the corner of the store. Meanwhile, the man he punched put his hands to his nose, appearing stunned as he looked down at the blood dripping onto his hands.

The assault was captured on security cameras, and the footage was uploaded to YouTube by the district attorney's office. It soon went viral, drawing national headlines and even prompting two state legislators to propose legislation making it a hate crime to assault a person with a recognised disability.

Barry Baker cried in court but his tears failed to sway the disgusted judge. Photo / Supplied

Baker's actions were "appalling", West Chester Police Chief Scott Bohn said. "You wonder what would make an individual treat somebody like that."

Sucker-punching and mocking a disabled man was bad enough. But what played out in the days ahead only worsened Baker's case.

After authorities issued warrants for Baker's arrest, and after his story was published widely on the news, Baker fled his home, becoming a fugitive. He led authorities on a two-week manhunt across multiple states. There were rumours he had fled as far as Florida.

Under Baker's instruction, his fiancee Denise Schmidt booked a hotel room for him under a friend's name, hiding the room key where Baker could find it. She also bought a prepaid cellphone for him to use while evading authorities, according to the district attorney's office.

On June 5, marshalls found him hiding in the hotel room's bathroom. Investigators found evidence in his phone records of his flight from law enforcement — searches for "how do cops ping a cellphone" and "how to change my personal name", searches for Greyhound bus services and Amtrak train schedules to as far away as Mexico and Canada.

On June 27, authorities arrested Schmidt, for hindering apprehension. And the same day, the Chester County District Attorney, Tom Hogan, announced that Baker's father, Barry Baker snr, was one of 46 people charged in a massive drug bust. He was charged with selling morphine.

"So while his son was beating up a man with a disability, Barry Baker snr was selling morphine," Hogan said. "It's a heck of a family."

Hogan summed it up: "Since that unprovoked attack, the defendant has been arrested for assault, had his parole revoked, went on the run, was captured, and now has been charged with flight. The defendant's fiancee has been arrested for helping the defendant flee. The defendant's father has been arrested for dealing drugs. This is how Chester County law enforcement deals with bullies who pick on disabled people."

Baker pleaded guilty in September to charges of simple assault and flight to avoid apprehension.

In an extensive interview with Daily Local News reporter Michael Rellahan, Baker had a different story about the sucker-punch. He said he had been at West Chester bars before the assault, and met the 22-year-old man he would later punch. He said the man was acting inappropriately around a woman and Baker told him, "Don't do that. It's disrespectful," he told Rellahan.

The man retorted: "Who do you think you are? Dr. Phil?"

Baker said he would later run into the man outside the 7-Eleven. "He was running his mouth, and said, 'Oh, look, it's Dr. Phil again'. I imitated how he walked," Baker said,
"which was wrong, of course.

"That's when I let my anger get the best of me," Baker said.

He was apologetic and said he was mad at himself for the way he behaved. But he said "this has all been blown way out of proportion".

In court on Wednesday, Baker told the judge: "I want my life back. This will affect me for the rest of my life. I just want a chance to rebuild it."

Baker's lawyer said he was remorseful and grew up in a dysfunctional home, the Daily Local News reported. His mother died of a drug overdose and his father abused substances, he said. The lawyer said Baker was drunk on the night of the assault, and had mistaken the disabled man for someone with whom he had an altercation earlier.

Mahon, the judge, sentenced Baker to terms of one to two years in a state prison for the charges, plus another one to two years for violating his probation from a 2009 case of theft from a motor vehicle, for a total sentence of three to six years behind bars, according to the Daily Local News.

"I've been on the bench for 18 years, and I've never had someone misrepresent to me, and be caught doing it, as you," Mahon told Baker, according to the Daily Local News.

"You have extreme difficulty with the truth."