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Grand jury indicts Councilman Baker

June 10, 1993

By Michael Gerhardt
Arctic Sounder

A grand jury has accused Kotzebue City Councilman John K. Baker of trying to influence a witness following Baker's arrest last month on charges of drunken driving and refusing to submit to a chemical test.

Baker, 31, was arrested May 6 after he allegedly drove a vehicle into a house and a nearby parked car while intoxicated.

The June 4 indictment adds two counts, one of them a felony, related to improperly influencing a witness and one count of second-degree criminal mischief, also a felony.

Baker said Tuesday he is contesting the state's version of what happened but said he did not want to comment further.

"The more I think about it, the more it will probably get me in trouble if I talk about it now," Baker said in a telephone interview from Nome. "It would be much better if I just waited."

Baker was arrested after Kotzebue police responded to a domestic disturbance call. When officers Patrick Octuck and Dean Westlake arrived at house #643-A, they saw Baker's black truck driving away from the house, according to a criminal complaint.

Two witnesses told police that Baker had been knocking on the door of the house before getting back into his truck and bumping it into the house and into a truck parked nearby.

The officers also said they noticed that the grill on Baker's truck was broken.

A contractor called to make repairs on the house later told the district attorney's office Baker had told him to submit a falsified invoice for $350 of repairs. In return for submitting the false information, Baker said he would give Madison building supplies, according to court papers.

Following discussions with the district attorney's office, contractor Chris Madison of Arctic Maintenance submitted a $1,250 invoice for the actual cost of repairs.

District Attorney Max Garner said police did not charge Baker with criminal mischief because of uncertainty over the amount of damage caused.

Initial discussions with the owner of the home, Ed Werneke, indicated the cost of repairs would be between $1,000 and $5,000, according to the motion.

Shortly after the incident, according to the records, Baker contacted Werneke regarding repairs of the property.

Baker denied damaging the house but expressed his desire to pay the cost of repairs.

Werneke agreed to let a contractor selected by Baker do the repair work.

Both before and after his arrest, Baker denied driving any vehicles during the morning of May 6.

He claimed to have been in bed asleep when the damage to the house occurred, according to court papers.

After his arrest, Baker refused to submit to a chemical test when he was asked to do so, the complaint said.