Lake City rapper Raw Youngin charged with fleeing and failing to stop after a fatal crash

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Eric Javah Baker, 21, was arrested last night after allegedly hitting a car and killing its driver while fleeing a traffic stop; an occupant of his vehicle also suffered life-threatening injuries.

At about 6:41 p.m. last night, Gainesville Police Department officers conducted a traffic stop in the 1000 block of NE 2nd Street on an Infinite Q50S for stop bar and window tint violations. The Infiniti reportedly stopped on NE 10th Avenue, just west of its intersection with NE 2nd Street.

As officers approached the Infiniti on foot, it reportedly drove away at high speed on NE 10th Avenue; the officers reportedly went back to their patrol vehicle and turned off their emergency lights.

A short time later, the Infiniti reportedly hit another car at the intersection of NW 10th Avenue and NW 6th Street; the driver of the other car was fatally injured in the crash, and the other three occupants of the Infiniti, one of whom reportedly has life-threatening injuries, were transported to a local hospital for treatment.

After the Infiniti came to a stop in the front yard of a property in the 600 block of NW 10th Avenue, the driver, later identified as Baker, allegedly ran from the scene without offering aid to any of the occupants of either vehicle. In spite of suffering from what appeared to be a broken ankle, Baker allegedly ran from the scene of the crash and tried to hide in the yard of a nearby property. A K-9 team reportedly located and apprehended him, and he was taken to a hospital for treatment of his ankle.

Two witnesses reportedly told an officer that Baker was the driver who limped from the scene, and one of the occupants of the Infiniti reportedly identified Baker as the driver.

Baker was issued citations for leaving a crash involving serious personal injury, leaving a crash involving death, no driver’s license while leaving a crash involving serious personal injury, and no driver’s license while leaving a crash involving death, and he was charged with three felonies for fleeing and leaving the scene of the crash.

Baker, who is from Lake City is also known as Raw Youngin, a rapper who signed with Epic Records and has released a number of videos since 2019 and an album in 2022; he has also collaborated with DJ Khaled, G Herbo, OMB Peezy, and Doe Boy.

Baker has Columbia County charges for driving without a valid license dating back to 2016; after he was adjudicated guilty of driving without a valid license in 2022, he was offered a pre-trial diversion program but failed to successfully complete it. He eventually entered a plea of guilty to the charge and was sentenced to six months of probation and 25 hours of community service. After violating his probation, he was sentenced to 17 days in jail with credit for 17 days served.

In October 2022, Baker was trespassed from Columbia High School “in regards to his involvement in criminal activities” at a football game. In May 2023, he was arrested for trespassing when he went back to the school for a graduation ceremony. He reportedly had “a large amount of currency” on him at the time of the incident. He entered a plea of nolo contendere to a charge of trespassing on school property and was sentenced to 12 months of probation in August 2023.

On August 11, 2023, Baker was arrested for possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia; the charges were later dropped.

On October 9, 2023, a Columbia County Sheriff’s Deputy reported seeing a “silver SUV known to be operated and driven by Eric Baker. It should be noted Eric Baker does not have a valid driver’s license and has not possessed one for several years. Eric also has an active warrant for Driving While License Suspended or Revoked out of Miami. [A detective] also advised me he has on numerous occasions instructed Eric not to drive on a public road without a license.”

After the deputy confirmed that Baker was driving the SUV, he conducted a traffic stop and noted that small amounts of marijuana were in plain view in the vehicle. The deputy also noted in the arrest report that Baker was on pre-trial release in a felony case, but our search for that case in Columbia County court records produced no results. The arrest report from last night’s incident reported that Baker was wanted on a warrant in that case for possession of a controlled substance.

The October 2023 charge of driving without a valid license was later dropped, but the arrest led to a violation of his probation (in both the trespassing case and the 2022 driving without a valid license case); his probation was revoked, and he was sentenced to 17 days in jail with credit for 17 days served.

Baker is currently being held without bail. The photo at the top of this article is the photo that is currently posted on the jail’s website as his booking photo.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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