TOOELE -- Although the commute was long, Robbie Baird liked working at Lagoon because he had good friends to work with at the amusement park.
But at 8:45 p.m. July 31, Baird's life changed when he got off FrontRunner in Farmington.
"I was walking on the platform to catch the Lagoon shuttle when they grabbed me and searched through my pants pockets and backpack," said Baird, whose words come out slowly and sometimes in jerks.
When he sat down to talk about the robbery with the Standard-Examiner, he flexed his fingers and his eyes looked away, peering into the distance.
Baird, 26, of Tooele, is mentally disabled because of seizures he has had since he was 5. He joined New Reflection House, a community-based rehabilitation program, in 1999 and has tried to learn skills so he could live on his own.
He has his own apartment and got the part-time job at Lagoon on his own.
New Reflection House, for those with long-term mental illnesses, is part of Valley Mental Health.
Beginning in April, Baird spent several hours, five days a week, traveling on either a bus or on FrontRunner to get to his part-time job, where he worked from midnight to 6 a.m. power-washing the rides and cleaning the grounds.
He liked arriving early, so he could ride the rides and hang out with friends.
Occasionally, one of his two brothers, who do not live with him, would make the commute with him. But typically, Baird traveled on his own from Tooele to Farmington to get to work.
Baird, who likes basketball, bowling and hiking, also had no difficulty going by himself to Salt Lake City for a night of dancing and hanging out with friends.
"I used to be safe," Baird said, still shaken from the attack in July. "Now I'm not. I don't go out at night."
Baird, who is receiving counseling, quit his job at Lagoon shortly after the attack, out of fear it may happen again. He now only travels during daylight. He is now employed as a part-time custodian at the Tooele Army Depot, which contracts with New Reflection House to provide employment.
When Baird got off FrontRunner that night in July, he could feel trouble brewing.
"I got a feeling something was up. Someone was following me," Baird said.
Without warning, two men grabbed him, pushed him around and demanded money. He could see a woman watching them and realized she was not going to help because she was with the two men.
The men then held him as they searched through his pants pockets and his backpack.
They found his cellphone, but didn't find his wallet, which was hidden in the bottom of his backpack.
"They started throwing my cellphone around, so I couldn't get it," Baird said.
Then they left him, and so did the shuttle bus.
"I started crying," Baird said. "I was terrified they'd come back."
But it was the shuttle bus that came back, and Baird asked the driver to call police.
Soon Baird was inside a police car, shaking from fear, as he watched officers search for the suspects in a nearby field.
His attackers allegedly also had stolen two 12-packs of beer from a nearby Chevron.
A Davis County sheriff's deputy had spotted the trio running from the convenience store and went after them.
Police arrested the three, and Baird identified each of them as his attackers.
Brandon I. Begay and Corie Maloney, both 18, were recently sentenced to Davis County Jail and three years' probation for their role in the attack. Begay pleaded guilty to second-degree theft, and Maloney pleaded guilty to third-degree felony robbery.
The third suspect, Jose Angel Velazque Chavez, 19, entered a no contest plea Nov. 3 to second-degree felony theft. His sentencing hearing is set for Dec. 15.
Baird did not attend the sentencing hearings for Maloney and Begay, but he is considering attending Chavez's sentencing.
Baird smiled as he said the police told him, "I helped clean up Farmington."
Comments