Suspected Door Kick-In Burglars Fail to Appear, Sought By Police

The duo suspected of committing a string of daytime door kick-in burglaries throughout Howard County may be on the lam after failing to appear at a bail hearing on Nov. 15 in Howard County Circuit Court.

The suspects, Joseph Leo Baumgarten, of Pasadena, and Dianna Lynn Marketti, of Dundalk, were arrested by Howard County Police on Oct. 4 and charged with stealing more than $22,000 in firearms, jewelry and electronics from four Howard County residences, but later released the next day on $15,000 bail.

Howard County Police said the duo is suspected in 10 more burglaries that they haven’t yet been charged in.

The Nov. 15 hearing was scheduled to adjust their bail, but neither appeared, according to assistant state's attorney Natasha Byus.

“Appropriate bond hopefully prevents [this situation] from people who have a history of failing to appear or have violated probation or parole in the past,” said Byus.

About a week after they were released on bail, Baumgarten, 40, allegedly assaulted and kidnapped Marketti, 30, in the process of stealing her vehicle, according to a Baltimore County police report filed in court documents.

According to police, on Oct. 13 Baumgarten, of Pasadena, allegedly broke into Marketti’s home in Dundalk around 7 a.m., went to her bedroom, stole the keys to her Chrysler PT Cruiser and fought with Marketti, according to the police report. 

After that, Baumgarten left and got into Marketti’s car as Marketti continued to argue with him, at which point Baumgarten allegedly pulled Marketti by her hair into the car and drove away. Marketti told police Baumgarten repeatedly punched her in the face while in the car.

Eventually Baumgarten stopped the car and Marketti escaped, but Baumgarten followed her into woods near Sparrows Point Country Club in Baltimore, caught up with her, dragged her by her feet farther into the woods and then left the scene in her PT Cruiser, according to the report.

Marketti told police that Baumgarten was her ex-boyfriend, who she had broken up with the week before the assualt. Police reported finding visible injuries, including lacerations and abrasions on Marketti's face and hands.

Baltimore County police did not comment on the investigation into the assualt and kidnapping on Monday.

The release of the suspected burglars made waves in Howard County, with commenters on Patch asking why the bail was set so low for the two.

In addition to the suspected burglaries, Baumgarten had violated his probation five times previously after being convicted of burglary for three offenses from 1996, one from 2002 and another from 2008, according to court documents. In addition, he failed to appear in court for traffic offenses on five occasions.

Marketti currently has 15 active traffic cases, most of which are for driving on a suspended license, with one as recent as Sept. 26.

Howard County District Court commissioner Oreon W. Pinkston II set the original bail on Oct. 5 and the suspects’ quickly posted it, according to court documents. The court commissioner's office declined to comment after the bail was set.

A request for comment to a state justice department spokesperson on Monday afternoon about the latest developments in the case—suspects’ failure to appear for the bond hearing, Baumgarten’s alleged assault of Marketti—was not immediately responded to on Monday.

Patch has requested the suspects' mug shots from Howard County Police.