A blind homeless man has been accused of stealing a Brooklyn building from a man with the same name as him. Street photographer Ralph Baker, 64, is currently on trial for allegedly transferring ownership of a Fort Greene property belonging to a different Ralph Baker, 47, into his own name in 2010. Oh, and after he was arrested for that, he allegedly convinced a bail bondsman he owned the apartment building and used it as collateral to get released from jail.
"I’m the good Ralph Baker, and he’s the evil Ralph Baker," the younger Baker told a Brooklyn Supreme Court last year, according to the Post. "I don’t like the guy, but I marvel at how ingenious he is." The elder Baker claims that the younger one is a squatter who owes him back pay for the apartment.
Prosecutors say the elder Baker successfully asked the borough president’s office of topography to change the address of the Fort Greene building, filed an order of protection against a woman who saw him break into the building, and convinced the Brooklyn DA’s Office to investigate the younger Baker in 2009. "He’s very crafty," said bail bondsman Ira Judelson, the one the elder Baker allegedly tricked. "I truly believe that he thinks he owns that building. That’s the scary part."
We interviewed Baker, who has at least 30 prior arrests mostly for drug charges and being an unlicensed general vendor, about his photography in 2005. There was no mention of the Fort Greene building or the younger Baker, but he did discuss that he had been admitted to Bellevue due to, "paranoid schizophrenic. Bipolar. Grandiose complex and some other stuff."
Regarding his mental state, he commented: "I have been in contact with all these things, but I've never categorized myself that way. But all of these chemical imbalances have been attributed to some of the greatest people alive, so I don't understand any need for medication."
