BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The parents of a Bloomington teen are facing charges after being accused of allowing their son access to loaded guns.
Gregory Cordell Baker Sr. and Olinida K. Allen were arrested on charges of dangerous control of a child, a level 5 felony.
On Oct. 16, officers with the Bloomington Police Department responded to a shopping plaza located within the 300 block of E. Winslow Road around 1:46 p.m. after receiving reports that shots had been fired.
According to court documents, BPD said officers learned that two men, identified as Antowyne Osborne and Shauntrell Watts Jr., had exchanged gunfire in the area. No one was injured in the shooting. However, officers did confirm that the gunfire had damaged a nearby building.
After the shooting, police began surveillance of a home in the 2100 block of S. Rockport Road due to knowing the home had been involved in previous shooting incidents. In less than 10 minutes after the Winslow Road shooting, police reported spotting the suspect vehicle at the Rockport Road address.
While conducting surveillance at the Rockport Road residence, officers saw a young male walk out onto the porch holding a “long, black object.” The male was identified as a 16-year-old teen. The two suspects in the Winslow Plaza shooting then entered the Rockport home.
Court documents detail that police then detained all three individuals.
During a search of the home in the Rockport Road home, investigators reported they found two loaded handguns in a bedroom and a semi-automatic rifle on the front porch that was also loaded and ready to fire. A further search uncovered a black rifle on the porch. The Anderson Manufacturing AM-15 was loaded and there was a round in the chamber, according to court documents.
Inside a bedroom, a loaded Ruger .380 pistol and a Glock 9mm were also located. Police said none of the firearms were secured.
Court documents reveal that while officers were searching the Rockport Road home, Baker and Allen approached the officers and said they were the parents of the 16-year-old police had seen on the porch and detained.
Baker and Allen reportedly told police they lived at the Rockport residence. The two confirmed there were three firearms in the residence, the affidavit said. They said the guns belonged to Allen.
Court documents note that police had been called to the Rockport Road home on previous occasions for gunshots being fired. Baker and Allen’s 16-year-old son was reportedly on house arrest due to a prior incident involving an armed robbery.
Court documents did not clarify if Watts Jr. and Osborne lived in the Rockport Road residence with Baker, Allen and the juvenile.
Baker and Allen were booked into the Monroe County Jail on a $5,500 bond.
Watts Jr. was arrested and preliminarily charged with felony counts of attempted murder, criminal recklessness, and pointing a firearm. Osborne was preliminarily charged with felony counts of criminal recklessness and possession of a stolen handgun and unlawful carry of a gun.
