A man pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges that he bilked several elderly Lakewood women out of more than $14,000 by promising to do yard work, playing on their emotions and physically intimidating them.
Timothy Baugh, 45, is charged with one count of first-degree theft, one count of second-degree theft and two counts of third-degree theft. Bail was set at $200,000.
Baugh was convicted in 2007 of bilking another elderly person out of $35,000.
Pierce County prosecutors said Baugh never threatened the women but manipulated and intimidated them into writing him multiple checks between January 2010 and February 2011.
Court documents give the following account:
Baugh spent nine months swindling a woman out of nearly $11,000 but only did yard work about six times. The woman told police his size intimidated her and she believed his “sob story” about having a sick wife.
The woman’s daughter reported Baugh in March after seeing him featured on Washington’s Most Wanted.
Baugh also persuaded an 81-year-old woman with dementia to let him mow her lawn. Baugh told her his wife had cancer and he was having a hard time paying for treatments.
The woman paid him $2,380.
In January, Baugh followed another 81-year-old woman home from the bank and insisted that she hire him to do yard work despite her insistence that her son could handle it.
“I felt I had no choice and I was being pushed into paying him,” she told police.
When she called Baugh to ask him to do work, he made excuses and hung up on her.
The fourth victims were an elderly couple who hired Baugh to do menial labor, which he never completed. The woman felt pressured to write Baugh a check as stood over her and left without doing work although he cashed the check the same day.
His trial is set for Nov. 28.
Stacia Glenn: 253-597-8653
stacia.glenn@thenewstribune.com
JOIN THE DISCUSSION | Register here
We welcome comments. Please keep them civil, short and to the point. ALL CAPS, spam, obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Thanks for taking part — and abiding by these simple rules. A thorough explanation of rules of conduct can be found in our Terms of Service. If you have any questions, including why your comment may not be showing immediately after you submit it, be sure to visit the commenting FAQ.