An Ellsworth man is facing 52 charges after being accused of damaging at least 40 vehicles on a two-week crime spree in and around Ellsworth.

Jeffrey James Baker, 57, was ordered to pay $100,00 cash bond Dec. 18 in Pierce County Circuit Court on the charges, including eight felony first-degree recklessly endangering safety, one felony bail jumping, three misdemeanor bail jumping, and 40 criminal damage to property charges. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 12.5 years in prison and/or fines up to $25,000.

According to the complaint:

On Dec. 3, Ellsworth Police Chief Eric Ladwig took a report of a vehicle being shot with a yellow paintball around 7:40 p.m. Dec. 2 at Main and Wall streets. The complainant at first thought it was a rock but found yellow paint on his vehicle when he returned home. He said he had been traveling eastbound on Main Street and while passing a white truck, the item struck his driver’s side mirror, breaking the plastic. It appeared the paintball was frozen.

At 6:27 p.m. Dec. 3, a woman reported her vehicle had been hit with a paintball in the area of South and Maple streets on Dec. 2. She saw a white Chevy truck traveling east on South Street when she heard something hit her vehicle. She too found yellow paint on her vehicle from what appeared to be a paintball.

On Dec. 15, police received multiple reports of vehicles being struck by unknown objects or shot at while traveling on Main Street in Ellsworth. Pierce County Sheriff’s deputies also reported receiving complaints of a white truck driving past vehicles and someone either shooting at or throwing objects at them.

On Dec. 15, a Pierce County deputy pulled over a silver Chevy Silverado at West and Grant streets in Ellsworth registered to Baker. Deputies noticed packaging for a sling shot on the floor of the front passenger side and had Baker step out of the vehicle. Baker told officers he bought a sling shot from Dunham’s in Red Wing so he could kill a woodchuck in his yard. The slingshot and a plastic bag filled with metal ball bearings and small nuts were in the vehicle. He told officers he took the slingshot to a friend’s house to shoot targets. He refused to identify the friend or the property he allegedly went to. He denied being the one to shoot at vehicles, saying he was too old to be going around damaging other people’s property. Police confiscated the slingshot and ammo as evidence. Baker’s truck was parked and he was allowed to walk home.

The ball bearings and nuts located in Baker’s truck were consistent with the damage and small dents that victims reported on their vehicles. After releasing Baker, officers began receiving multiple calls about someone in a white pickup truck launching objects at their vehicles.

At 11:15 a.m. Dec. 16, officers responded to Baker’s home at 186 N. Grant St. to attempt an arrest, but his truck was not in the driveway. An officer watched the home and reported Baker returned around 5 p.m. Baker opened the door but wouldn’t come close to the door. He denied shooting any vehicles and denied being on a felony bond. Officers handcuffed him and transported him to Pierce County Jail.

Officers obtained search warrants for Baker’s phone, which they seized, and his home. In a trash can in the garage police found an empty package of Hotshot Steel Slingshot Ammo. They forced their way into the home (since no key could be located) and found a box in the kitchen containing a disassembled pellet handgun and a bag of steel slingshot ammo. These matched the size of the ball bearing recovered from one victim’s mirror. The box also contained parts of a slingshot. In the trash, police located a Dunham’s bag containing a receipt dated Dec. 15 listing a slingshot, ammo, paintballs and an item called a Black Widow. In the spare bedroom police located two pellet rifles.

Over the course of Baker’s alleged destructive rampage, multiple vehicle windows and windshields were broken, causing glass to enter the vehicles. Others reported being startled by the loud noise causing their ears to ring.

“These have a high probability of causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle and furthermore cause the vehicle to crash into another vehicle or a pedestrian. The result has a high probability of causing great bodily harm to the driver or others. A reasonable person should know shooting a steel ball with a slingshot or other device towards a moving vehicle and driver side window could cause bodily or great bodily harm if struck in the head or face. Several victims reported the object striking near their head,” the complaint states. One woman’s driver’s side window was shattered while she was near Subway.

Investigation revealed the attacks started around 10 p.m. Nov. 30 on Highway 10 near County Road OO when a window was shattered. Another driver reported his vehicle being struck on Dec. 3 near Common Man Brewing in Ellsworth, causing a large crack in the windshield with about an inch hole. The pattern was similar to a BB gun hole but much larger in size.

Other people reported vehicles being struck as they traveled near Baker’s residence, near East End, on Highway 10 between Ellsworth and Prescott and east of Ellsworth, and in the Lawton Bar area, One victim traveling in the 500 block of East Main Street around 12:15 p.m. Dec. 14 heard something hit her driver’s side door while being passed by a white pickup. It hit near her head and made her ears ring. Officers responded to the area and located a metal nut in the grass area on the north side of the road, which matched those found in Baker’s vehicle.

On Dec. 15, a woman traveling east on Main Street near Fiesta Rosita heard a loud bang and her front window shattered, cutting her face. Also on Dec. 15, a man’s driver’s side window was shattered by an unknown object on Highway 10 near Willow Drive. Glass sprayed throughout the vehicle, hitting him and scaring the other occupants. In all, 40 people reported damage to their vehicles that occurred during the two-week period.

Baker is scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing at 10:30 a.m. Dec. 27. He is also facing two felony stalking charges in separate Pierce County cases.