The suspect arrested for last week’s burglary at UNF Petway Hall now faces five burglary and two theft charges in addition to multiple felony charges, which include false imprisonment and auto theft, according to police reports.

The man, Charles Baker Jr., 33, was a temporary employee with UNF custodial services, according to a detective’s report. Baker stole two Intellikeys, according to the report, which gave him access to multiple university offices. According to Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office reports, Baker also stole a woman’s car where he allegedly unlawfully detained another woman on April 6, during a separate, off-campus incident—just days after the most recent UNF burglary.

Spinnaker reached out to the woman whose car was stolen and she confirmed that she is a UNF Fall 2024 alumna. This appears to be solely coincidental, because she reported to police that she is a stranger to both Baker and the other victim involved. 

Baker has accumulated a $166,000 bond over the past week, not including the burglary charges, according to court records. He is currently being held at a pre-trial detention facility, according to a JSO booking report.

UNF burglaries

University police reported at least eight theft and burglary incidents between March 28 and April 7, which all occurred in university offices or classrooms. It’s unclear if all of these reports are related to Baker’s investigation.

On April 1 a detective was assigned to investigate the burglary in Petway Hall, Building 57, according to a UPD report. On April 2, another burglary was reported inside the same suite, and over the following days, three more were reported by various UNF faculty and staff, according to the report. 

Baker allegedly stole two Intellikeys, some other hard keys, two UNF laptops and a professor’s credit card,  according to the UPD detective’s report. On April 1, Baker used the professor’s credit card to purchase over $150 worth of merchandise at a Marshalls on Normandy Boulevard, according to an incident report that was later linked to another charge on Baker following his April 6 arrest.

Police found while arresting Baker for a separate incident on April 6, that he had the same two UNF laptops, Intellikeys and other stolen keys in his possession, according to the UPD detective’s report.

According to the detective’s report, Baker was a temporary employee with the UNF custodial services. In the report, Baker’s supervisor said that he must be accompanied by a UNF custodial staff member at all times and should not have any key access to the university. 

In 2014, Baker pled guilty to a felony grand theft charge was sentenced to serve 30 days in jail, according to court records. Baker has also been charged with several misdemeanor thefts since then, according to court records.

Spinnaker reached out to a university spokesperson and asked how Baker was able to work on  campus, and received the following response:

“The suspect was not a UNF employee. He was employed by a temporary staffing agency, which was required to run background checks on any temporary employees working on UNF’s campus. UNF officials have met with the agency to determine how the temporary employee was allowed to work on campus. The agency uses a third-party service to conduct background checks and is investigating how the background check on this employee failed to catch his criminal history. Effective immediately, the agency will switch to using the same background screening service that is currently used by UNF.  The agency will provide the results of background checks for review by UNF’s Office of Human Resources before the agency’s temporary employees are permitted to work on UNF’s campus.”

The university spokesperson also confirmed that Baker began working on campus on January 26, 2025 and his last day was the day he was identified as the burglary suspect.

Baker’s supervisor told the UPD detective that Baker would disappear out of her sight multiple times during work hours, according to the report. Baker told detectives that his supervisors would give him keys and that an unknown co-worker had given him the Intellikeys, according to the report. Baker said he found the laptops in the trash.

How did police take Baker into custody?

In addition to the UNF burglary charges, Baker faces several other felonies according to court records, including false imprisonment, auto and grand theft, carrying a firearm with a controlled substance and pawning stolen property, among others. So, what happened?

Baker’s arrest

On Sunday, April 6, police spotted Baker leaving Dunkin Donuts on Cassat Avenue in a stolen Hyundai SUV, according to a JSO report. Baker and another woman were inside the car, and as Baker drove out of the parking lot, he was blocked by police. 

After police detained both Baker and the woman, they found that Baker had multiple small plastic bags of marajuana and a handgun inside the stolen car, according to a JSO report.

The woman told police that she was an acquaintance of Baker’s and that she visited his apartment on Cassatt Boulevard that afternoon to pick up some things she had left, according to a JSO report. In the report, the woman told police that Baker left his apartment and allegedly slashed one of her car tires, stole her credit card and phone, threatened her and forced her to get into the stolen car.

According to the JSO report, the woman told police that she asked Baker if she could call an Uber when Baker parked at the Dunkin Donuts on Cassat Avenue. She said Baker replied, “No, you’re coming home with me.” The woman also told police that she did not know Baker’s car was stolen.

At the scene, Baker denied knowing the car was stolen and denied forcing the woman into the car and taking her phone, according to the JSO report. After his arrest, a no-contact order was also put in place between Baker and the woman, according to court records. 

A UNF alumn’s stolen car

The now-recovered SUV coincidentally belongs to a UNF Class of 2024 alumna, who gave Spinnaker her personal account of the incident. According to JSO reports and the alumna, Baker also stole multiple personal items that were left in the 22-year-old’s car, including her Gucci purse, wallet with cash and credit cards, iPad and AirPods among other things. 

According to JSO reports, police found all of the stolen items inside Baker’s apartment, except for the Gucci purse, which, according to a separate report, was pawned by Baker on March 31. Police found the stolen items after the alumna showed officers a location ping for her AirPods, according to reports.

Police were eventually able to track down the purse and return it to the UNF alumna, who told Spinnaker that she felt relieved because the purse was a special graduation gift from her grandmother. 

On a phone call, the alumna said her Hyundai SUV was totaled after the incident and she’s driving a rental car for now.

“You never know who’s watching you, who’s targeting you, who’s looking at what you have and what they don’t have,” the alumna said. She said she’s pressing full charges against Baker and that the whole incident “feels like a movie” to her.

Baker is being held at a pre-trial detention facility and is set to appear in court on May 13.

The full timeline, according to information across all reports and sources

Thursday, March 27, 2025, 3:30 p.m.

• Earliest time that on-campus burglaries could have occurred, according to the UPD detective’s report.

Friday, March 28, 2025 to Sunday March 30, 2025

• A UNF alumna reports her car stolen, according to her personal account to Spinnaker and a JSO report. It’s unclear the exact date the car was reported stolen because there are inconsistencies between reports.

Monday, March 31, 2025

• Baker pawns the UNF alumna’s Gucci bag at Value Pawn on Blanding Boulevard, according to a JSO booking report.

Tuesday, April 1, 2025

• UNF sends out an alert notifying the university community that a burglary has occurred on campus.
• A UNF professor’s credit card was allegedly used by Baker in a fraud incident at a Marshalls store, according to a JSO incident report, which was referenced in the UPD detective’s report.

Wednesday, April 2, 2025 through Saturday, April 5, 2025

• Four more burglaries are reported by faculty and staff over this period, according to the UPD detective’s report. One of the additional four occurred in Petway Hall. *NOTE: This is the timeframe UNF faculty and staff reported burglaries to police—not the time frame the burglaries happened.

Sunday, April 6, 2025

• 4 p.m – 7:05 p.m.:
  • Baker allegedly unlawfully detains another woman in the stolen car and is taken into custody after police stop him on Cassat Boulevard leaving Dunkin Donuts, according to a JSO booking report. 
  • The UNF aluma’s car and personal belongings inside Baker’s apartment are retrieved, according to a separate JSO booking report.

• 8:48 p.m.: 

Baker is charged with false imprisonment and possessing a controlled substance while carrying a firearm, according to a JSO booking report.

• 9:33 p.m.:

Baker is charged with theft of a motor vehicle and grand theft, according to a JSO booking report.

• 11:40 p.m.:

Latest time that on-campus burglaries could have occurred, according to UPD detective’s report. However, it appears from other reports that Baker already was in police custody by this time.

Monday, April 7, 2025

• UNF sends out a second alert notifying the university community that the suspect is in custody. 
• A JSO arrest report is created for Baker that shows a new charge for the UNF professor’s credit card fraud.

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