Cell suspect was accused before

From: Cincinnati.com - Cincinnati,OH,USA - Oct 29, 2008

By Kimball Perry • kperry@enquirer.com

When Gary Walker was arrested Monday and charged with stealing from a disabled woman, it wasn't the first time he was accused of taking advantage of a person with a disability.

Walker, 24, arrested after allegedly taking his own picture on a cell phone stolen from a deaf woman, had at least six outstanding arrest warrants.

One accuses Walker of theft for stealing pop and a sandwich - total value of $3.50 - from the blind man who owns the deli inside the Hamilton County Courthouse.

Walker was in the Courthouse Deli, owned and operated by Kent Parker, at about 11 a.m. July 14, when police said he bought two cups of ice from Parker for 50 cents. After reviewing video from the deli, sheriff's deputies said Walker filled the two cups of ice with pop, took a sandwich and walked past the blind man without paying.

Police issued a warrant because Walker wasn't arrested at the time. That theft charge is a first- degree misdemeanor and carries a maximum jail term of 90 days.

Walker will be in court to answer to that charge Nov. 18. He was arrested Monday after a deaf woman reported someone stole her cell phone Sept. 28 while she was in Bond Hill.

He is accused of snatching the cell phone from the hands of Ashlee Hutchens, 18, and driving away.

Weeks later, she got a new phone. After she transferred data from her phone network to the new phone, she saw a photo of a man she recognized as the phone thief.

Police circulated the photo to the media and it led to Walker's arrest. In that case, Walker is charged with robbery, a second-degree felony carrying a maximum prison sentence of eight years.

Walker is being held in the Hamilton County Jail.

©2008 The Enquirer.