The Knoxville and Pella Police Departments have been investigating numerous complaints of harassment against 37-Year-old Jacob Lee Baxter of Knoxville by an ex-girlfriend. Between March 19 and April 20, Baxter allegedly contacted or attempted to contact the victim in person, by phone, by email, on Snapchat, and through family and friends. On March 19, Knoxville Police advised Baxter not to have any further contact, but he continued. Baxter has been charged with harassment third-degree, and violation of a no-contact order, and on April,1 a no-contact order was issued in Marion County against Baxter. On April 17 at 1:30 am the victim was at a male friend’s house in Pella when she saw Baxter’s car in the alley near the house, and the male friend saw all the tires on their vehicles were flat.
On April 17, Knoxville Police spoke with the victim, and she advised them of the incident in Pella. The victim expressed her concerns that Baxter may have a GPS on her car because he always seems to know where she is. A search of the victim’s car was conducted and a small black plastic box was found under the vehicle. The box was identified as a Spytec GPS tracker. On April 20, the results of a search warrant for Spytech subscribers and GPS data from the GPS tracker found on the vehicle showed the GPS tracker was purchased on March 26 by Baxter. Baxter was charged with a stalking-second offense, a class D felony, fifth-degree criminal mischief-hate crime a serious misdemeanor, stalking-violation of protective order, a class D felony, unauthorized use of a GPS, a serious misdemeanor, and burglary-third degree a class D felony.
On April 20, the Pella Police Department concluded a criminal investigation with the arrest of Baxter. The charges stemmed from the incident on April 17th where Baxter entered, without permission, a property where the victim, who had an active no-contact order against Baxter, was located. Baxter caused damage to the victim’s property and took property that belonged to the victim. Baxter has prior convictions of stalking and domestic abuse assault.
As with any criminal case, a charge is merely an accusation and a defendant is innocent until proven guilty