10/11/13 Forest Park, GA – Murder Suspect At Traffic Stop Tries To Steal Police Car – After Striking Police Sergeant

October 11, 2013

11alive.com

For more than two years, the FBI and Indiana and Illinois police looked for Isaiah Barker. He was wanted for a brutal murder.

Barker was arrested early Monday morning by Forest Park Police after a traffic stop. When they arrested him, they had no idea who he was.

“It wasn’t until hours later that we were able to get a fingerprint on him and the fingerprint came back to his true identity,” said Forest Park Police Capt. Jason Armstrong.

Officer Joseph Carrico made the traffic stop after he noticed a vehicle driving with high beam lights on. Barker was a passenger in the car. Police said the passenger appeared nervous during the encounter and was asked to step out of the vehicle after he gave police a false name.

Barker told officers he didn’t have identification with him after they repeatedly asked him his real name. Barker tried to flee when an officer grabbed him by the arm.

“Barker struck (the officer) with several glancing blows with his fist,” police said in a release.

“We tried to tase him several times but it wasn’t really effective,” Armstrong said. “We tried pepper spray that wasn’t effective and tried to get him to comply by striking him with an asp baton, but it wasn’t effective.”

Five officers began a nine-minute chase after Barker ran.

“Finally he jumped into a police car and tried to steal it,” Armstrong said. “We were able to get to him before he could get it in drive and so we had him boxed inside the patrol car.”

Barker was wanted for the June 2011 murder of his girlfriend Cynthia Funches. The murder happened in Highland, Ind. Funches’ badly beaten body was found in a storage bin in Chicago days later. Police determined she was pregnant.

“We were able to get this wanted individual off the street,” Armstrong said. “He’s wanted for a serious crime, so it’s always good when you can get somebody off the streets like that.”

Barker faces charges of obstruction of a police officer, assault on a police officer and attempted motor vehicle theft in Forest Park. Those charges will likely take a back seat to the murder and feticide charges he faces in Chicago.