Pickax-wielding woman attacks California home

PASADENA, Calif. (KTLA) — A 65-year-old woman wielding a pickax smashed the windows of a Pasadena home where a grandmother was babysitting her 6-week-old granddaughter.

The incident, which was caught on home security cameras, unfolded Monday afternoon.

“I feel like we lost our safe place,” homeowner Arman Tchoukadarian told KTLA.

Tchoukadarian explained that his mother-in-law was watching his newborn daughter, who was sleeping in a bassinet near the front window, when the attacker smashed it with a pickax, sending shattered glass everywhere.

65-year-old Beverly Baker seen in security video wielding a pickaxe (Arman Choukadarian) — Pasadena resident Beverly Baker, 65, seen in security video wielding a pickaxe before shattering windows of the home. (Arman Tchoukadarian)

“If my mother-in-law didn’t act as fast as she did, my daughter wouldn’t be here,” he said.

The grandmother grabbed the baby from beneath the window just before it was shattered. That wasn’t the end of the assault, though.

The 65-year-old woman, identified as Beverly Baker, returned several times over the course of a few minutes and wreaked havoc on the home.

“She broke one window, went back,” Tchoukadarian said. “My mother-in-law came out screaming and yelling to get my attention.”

Security footage shows Baker, a pickax swung over her shoulder, marching back up the driveway. After shattering more windows, the 65-year-old shouted an ominous warning.

“Questions? Questions, anyone? I’ll be back, get out,” Baker can be heard and seen saying as she walks away with the pickax across her shoulder.

Pasadena Police later arrested Baker at her home just a few blocks away. Investigators said she may have been suffering from mental illness, though that is not confirmed.

“Police found her, nonchalant, walking with a pickax on her back, like she’d just finished working with it,” Tchoukadarian told KTLA.

For about a half hour, police said Baker refused to surrender but was eventually taken into custody. She faces charges of felony vandalism.

Tchoukadarian said his family has been traumatized by the ordeal.

“She needs to be in the right place, getting the right help,” he said. “That’s no excuse to go attack someone’s family, attack someone’s newborn and ruin their dream home, and ruin their life and sanity.

Tchoukadarian estimates that about $20,000 worth of damage was done to the house during the attack.