Car thieves beware: ‘ACE’ Trooper Baker on patrol

Car thieves should consider avoiding northeastern Louisiana when State Trooper Ryan Baker is on patrol.

Baker, a member of Troop F in Monroe, nabbed five such suspected criminals in five months, earning a rare “ACE” award from the State Police for his efforts.

“I was pretty excited about it,” said Baker, a third-generation cop whose late grandfather John House was a Troop F lieutenant.

Baker was awarded an “ACE” license plate and “ACE” sticker for his patrol unit at Troop F headquarters Monday.

“He’ll be showing out with that plate,” Troop F Commander Tommy Lewis said. “The neat thing about it is everybody notices when you’ve got that plate on your patrol car.”

Lewis said Baker, who lives in Delhi, is just the second member of Troop F to earn the award in the past 20 years. Troopers must recover five stolen vehicles with accompanying arrests within a one-year period to become an “ACE.”

“We’re proud of it,” Lewis said.

Baker, 32, who has wanted to be a Louisiana State Trooper since he was in kindergarten, almost had his dream derailed in 2007 when he was hit and injured by a drunk driver while working as a Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s deputy.

“It knocked me out of the State Police Academy and I was completely out of commission for about six months,” he said.

But Baker recovered, landed a spot in the academy again and reached his dream.

Baker believes his aggressive policing of DWIs, training and lawman’s intuition help him make so many arrests of vehicle thief suspects.

His five most recent arrests netted more than a $100,000 value of recovered vehicles. And he’s not finished.

“I plan to line up the side of my unit with these (ACE) stickers,” he said.

Follow Greg Hilburn on Twitter @GregHilburn1