Minnesota man escaped Dakota County deputies by slipping out of airport rental car, sheriff says

Nick Ferraro, Pioneer Press
·5 min read

A Minnesota felon who escaped the custody of Dakota County deputies last week in Georgia did so by slipping out of a rental car at the airport, authorities said Wednesday.

Joseph Harrison Baynes, 35, of Chaska, was captured near Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport in Georgia on Friday, about 27 hours after he escaped from two deputies who were trying to transport him to Minnesota on a warrant for felony harassment.

The Dakota County sheriff’s announced the escape last week, but did not explain how it happened.

Sheriff Joe Leko provided some details Wednesday, adding that an internal investigation is underway to “find out exactly how this all happened. Obviously it could have been prevented, I believe.”

The deputies took Baynes into their custody from the Bulloch County Jail at 11:45 a.m. Thursday. Once at the airport, and while stopped in traffic and waiting in a line to return a rental car, “the guy somehow popped the door and slipped out, and the chase was on,” Leko said. “How did he get out? We’re looking into that part of it.”

Baynes was handcuffed at the time, Leko said, and had around his ankle an electronic shock device, which is used to restrain inmates. “I believe they tried it, and I believe it didn’t work or not enough when he ran,” he said. “That’s part of the investigation.”

Baynes escaped into a heavily wooded area on airport property that had “alligators and water moccasins — it was a dangerous place,” Leko said.

Local, state and federal authorities searched for Baynes for several hours Thursday before calling it a day. On Friday, around 4 p.m., Savannah police officers spotted Baynes walking and approached him. Baynes, still in handcuffs, ran before being taken into custody, Leko said.

“The main point, and why I couldn’t sleep, is this guy was on the run for more than 24 hours, and he’s a public safety risk,” Leko said. “And we put a lot of pressure on their community down there, and worry and concern. So I’m just glad they got him into custody.”

Wanted for stalking

Baynes has a lengthy criminal history, according to Minnesota court records.

He has five felony convictions as a predatory offender who “knowingly violates registration requirements or intentionally provides false information” in Wright, Carver and Anoka counties.

In addition, he has felony convictions for domestic assault, one in Anoka County and one in Wright County. He has a string of other misdemeanor convictions for terroristic threats, driving while under the influence, brawling or fighting, fleeing a peace officer, assault and speeding.

Dakota County authorities issued a nationwide warrant for Baynes’ arrest on June 13, when he was charged with harassment-engaging in stalking.

According to the criminal complaint, a woman reported to Lakeville police on June 1 that she had been receiving calls and text messages from Baynes, who is her ex-boyfriend, in violation of an order for protection issued in Dakota County in April.

“In her report, (she) documented a string of violations of the order that had occurred,” the complaint says.

Baynes called the woman May 31, and an individual who was with her picked up her phone. In the call, which was answered on speaker phone, Baynes screamed and demanded that the woman get on the phone. He threatened to “slit the throat of the person who answered the call ‘from ear to ear’ and told him to tell (the woman) he would kill her,” the complaint says.

Later that day, Baynes tried to call the woman approximately 20 times. The next day, he left her two voicemail messages, including one in which he acknowledged knowing about the restraining order, the complaint says.

Baynes sent the woman text messages on June 1 and June 3. On June 4, she received a text message from Baynes requesting to connect with him from the Bulloch County Jail, where he was in custody, the complaint says.

According to Georgia court records, Baynes had been arrested that day by Georgia Southern Police on charges of felony theft, obstruction of a law enforcement officer, possession and use of drug-related objects and possession of tools for commission of a crime.

Baynes left the woman a voicemail on June 7, according to the Dakota County complaint, which adds that she “has expressed to law enforcement and others that these communications put her in fear for her life.”

Baynes pleaded guilty to three of the Georgia charges, with possession of tools for commission of a crime being dismissed. He was sentenced to five years of probation on July 27.

The seeming end of that case prompted Dakota County deputies to fly to Georgia to pick up Baynes, who had waived extradition to Minnesota.

Leko said that after Baynes’ escape from his deputies’ custody, the sheriff’s office contacted the Lakeville woman and “took measures and precautions to make sure she was safe.”

‘Have to go back down there’

Baynes is jailed at Bulloch County Jail, pending charges of violating his probation. Prosecutors are also considering what charges to consider relating to the escape, Leko said.

The plan is to extradite Baynes to Minnesota in the next couple of weeks, Leko said.

“We have to go back down there and get him,” he said. “I told someone that I’ll go down and make sure that guy gets back up here. It was kind of tongue-and-cheek, but that’s not happening again.”

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