WMAR TV Ramming Suspect Denied Bail

Bail has been denied for a man accused of slamming a stolen truck into WMAR TV. Meanwhile, the suspect's father said his son had recently become prone to violent outbursts.



"He'd be screaming 'Oh, boy! Oh, boy!' and sometimes he would punch the walls," Jean-Claudy Baptiste, 64, said of his son, Vladimir. "When someone keeps screaming 'Oh, boy! Oh, boy!' I thought something was wrong."



Vladimir Baptiste, 28, of Parkville, is charged with three counts of second-degree attempted murder, police said. He also faces charges of assault, burglary and malicious destruction of property and theft, online court records show.



At a hearing Wednesday afternoon, Baltimore County District Judge Alexandra Williams denied bail for Baptiste, saying the suspect is "obviously a threat to public safety." Baptiste waived his right to appear before the court.



Baptiste was taken into custody Tuesday after spending nearly five hours barricaded inside WMAR-TV in Towson, watching journalists deliver live reports from just outside the building. Police say no one, including Baptiste, was injured.



According to charging documents, detectives discovered several notes Baptiste had written inside the station. One document read, "Everything is unfolding I don't have to do anything!" signed "Love, Vladimir."



Court documents show that Baptiste told detectives, "he is the reincarnation of 'King Tut' and 'Jesus Christ' and lives in a world of 'multiverses' where bad things happen to people and they disappear because they are not real." Baptiste also said he set out on Tuesday to "close the multiverse" by crashing into the news station. Baptiste told detectives he did not intend to hurt anyone.



Baptiste's father said detectives came to his Parkville home Tuesday afternoon while his son was still in the station.



On Tuesday, officials said Baptiste was taken for medical treatment, and police Chief James Johnson said it was clear he suffered from "emotional or mental health issues." Johnson described Baptiste as "ranting and raving."



Jean-Claudy Baptiste told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday that his son does not have a diagnosed mental illness but underwent drug treatment a month ago.



The commotion began around noon Tuesday, when police received 911 calls describing a man demanding to be let in, and a station worker said the man insisted "I am God." Another 911 call then reported that the man had driven a massive landscaping truck into the lobby.



But Vladimir Baptiste later seemed calm - even bored - during the standoff, posting a tweet saying, "chillin abc2 news waiting and yawning." Jean-Claudy Baptiste confirmed Wednesday that the Twitter account belonged to his son.



Baptiste was holding a golf club when he was arrested, Johnson said.



By Wednesday, some damage to the building had been fixed, said Carolyn Micheli, vice president of corporate communications for the E.W. Scripps Co., which owns WMAR. Restoration crews cleaned up glass, fixed doors broken in by SWAT teams and removed rubber bullets embedded in walls, Micheli said.

Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz gives details on the Baptiste:

What he did for three hours barricaded inside WMAR:

Authorities said they were careful about releasing information as the incident played out Tuesday afternoon because they knew the suspect was watching the news. It turns out police were watching him too, though they did not explain how.



"He was watching different channels, watching you report this story," Johnson told reporters. "We could view him watching TV."



The commotion began at approximately 11:45 a.m., when police received a pair of 911 calls just minutes apart. The first call described a man screaming and banging against the gates of the station, demanding to be let in. The second reported he'd driven a massive landscaping truck into the lobby.



Baltimore County Police spokeswoman Elise Armacost said 55 people were safely evacuated from the building after the crash.

WMAR employees recount the incident:

Michael Marion, WMAR-TV's head of commercial production, was in his office off the station's lobby when he heard someone rattling violently against the security door. The man demanded to be let in, claiming "I am God, I am God," Marion said. But the security guard refused to admit him.



"I heard a series of crashes," Marion said. "The next thing, I looked in the lobby, and the only thing between truck and the lobby was the final door. I heard one final crash. I looked through the door, and by then the truck was in the lobby."

WMAR-TV anchor Jamie Costello said one of his colleagues saw the man jump out of the vehicle and run up the stairs. Police said the suspect was apprehended on the second floor, which includes the general manager's office, human resources, production and editing facilities. They said they used a flash bomb and a police dog to help arrest him.

WMAR's Cheryl Conner emotionally recounts the event to WBAL-AM's Derek Williams.

A single employee remained in the station's basement throughout the ordeal, updating police. During WMAR-TV's evening newscast, Nic Hall said he didn't realize what had happened until he was contacted by a co-worker who was offsite.



"I was in the basement 3 ½ hours talking with police, letting them know the lay of the land," Hall said.



Hall said he'd only worked at the station for two weeks.



"It was interesting. I'll be here tomorrow."