Lawrence man and woman arrested in connection with armed robbery

Two robbery suspects have been arrested while the search for others continue.

One man and one woman, both of Lawrence and both suspected in a recent armed robbery, have been arrested, police say.

John Timothy Baker, 33, was arrested after 6 p.m. Tuesday on suspicion of aggravated robbery, according to Douglas County Jail booking logs.

Stacey Nichole Ballard, 23, was arrested Wednesday, also on suspicion of aggravated robbery for the same incident, the Lawrence Police Department said in a news release.

Both Baker and Ballard were arrested without incident, the release said. Baker was arrested at the Lawrence Police Department’s Investigations and Training Center, 4820 Bob Billings Parkway. It was not immediately clear where Ballard was arrested.

Around 9:30 p.m. Jan. 8 two officers arrived near the intersection of West Campus Road and West Hills Terrace, where a 23-year-old Lawrence man said he had been robbed at gunpoint, Lawrence Police Sgt. Amy Rhoads said last week.

The man told police that a man and a woman — later identified as Baker and Ballard — pulled up next to him in a black, single-cab truck as he was walking, threatened him with a gun and “demanded items from him,” Rhoads said.

Baker is currently being held in the Douglas County Jail without bond. As of Wednesday afternoon, Ballard had not yet been booked into the jail.

Sunday’s reported robbery was one of three recently reported robberies. Of those reported crimes Baker, Ballard and one other person — a boy — have been arrested while other suspects remain at large.

A second robbery was reported around 7 a.m. on Jan. 9 at a Phillips 66 gas station at 1801 W. Second St., Rhoads said. There a man, armed with a hammer, entered the business and stole $300 in cash.
On Jan. 10 police released two photos of the suspect, asking those who might have information to call 785-832-7509.

The third robbery was reported around 8:45 p.m. on Jan. 8 in the 4600 block of West Sixth Street, Rhoads said. At the scene a 16-year-old girl told officers that two boys had threatened her inside a vehicle with a gun.

The two boys escaped with cash, Rhoads said. One was later arrested and the second was questioned and released, though investigators will submit an affidavit with the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office for a charging decision.

Rhoads said Tuesday afternoon that she had no new information regarding the three robberies and that the investigations are ongoing.

I report on crime and courts for the Journal-World. I can be reached by email at cswanson@ljworld.com, by phone at (785) 832-7284 or on Twitter @Conrad_Swanson.