1979

August 16, 1979
Gunfire @10200 Silvercrest

DOB – 12/27/1927, Age 51
Badge – CM-122
Final Resting Place –    Copeland Chapel, Conroe TX

City Marshal Charles H. Baker was shot to death in a struggle with a man he had stopped to serve a misdemeanor traffic on—but who was one of two men who had just robbed a nearby lounge. Charles Baker, 51, a four-year employee of the marshal's office, was killed about 9:30 p.m. Thursday, August 17, 1979 in the 10200 block of Silvercrest on the City's northeast Baker and his partner, R.A. McCammon, 23, spotted a young man walking along Silvercrest near Parker. He fit the description of a man they were seeking in order to serve him a misdemeanor traffic warrant.

The officers stopped their marked unit and Baker and McCammon, both in uniform, got out and began to question the man. "We saw he was sweating a lot," said McCammon, with the marshal's office for three years. "His pockets were stuffed with bill and change. I thought he might be a robber.

Baker told McCammon to park their car on the side of the street. McCammon walked back to the driver's side and then heard sounds of a scuffle followed by "several shots.' Baker, shot in the chest and right leg, fell to the ground and died at the scene. McCammon crouched behind the car and exchanged several shots with the man, who then fled.

During the gun battle, the man slipped into a ditch. Police said they recovered a cigarette lighter and some of the $300 taken in the lounge robbery.

Source – Houston Police Department Museum Files