Begorra! No Lucky Charms For Escaped Inmate

It was a little early for St. Patrick's Day, but that didn't keep a green-clad "leprechaun" from racing across campus late one night in February. Timothy Norwood Baker, an escaped inmate of the McLennan County Jail, made his way to Baylor shortly after midnight Feb. 6 and broke a window in the Hooper-Schaefer Fine Arts Center. Once inside, he shed his inmate uniform and put on one of the few theater costumes he could find in an unlocked closet.

"He looked like a wayward leprechaun who had a bad night," said Chief Jim Doak of Baylor's Department of Public Safety, recalling the description of other officers who later helped capture Baker. "He had on green pants, green-tinted rain boots and a striped shirt that was kind of greenish."

Given the selection available in the theater closet, his choice wasn't so bad. According to Dr. Stan Denman, chair of the theater arts department, most of the costumes were wedding gowns and 1950s prom dresses.

In cooperation with the Waco Police Department and the McLennan County Sheriff's Office, Baker was apprehended about 5:30 a.m. several blocks from campus.

Considering his attire, he must have been pretty hard to miss. -- Compiled in part from local media reports