Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more!
Man Once Featured On '90 Day Fiancé' And Wanted For Murder Is Arrested After Florida Bar Fight
Michael Baltimore, who was named to the U.S. Marshal Service's most wanted list last year for the 2021 shooting of Pennsylvania barber Kendell Cook, was taken into custody Friday morning after a bar fight broke out in Florida.
A man once featured on TLC’s “90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After?” was arrested in Florida six months after earning a spot on the U.S. Marshals’ most wanted list.
Michael Anthony Baltimore, 44, was taken into custody Friday morning after he fled the scene of a bar fight in Florida and was stopped by local police, according to a statement the U.S. Marshals Service.
Baltimore—who was featured in several episodes of the reality show's fourth seaason—was placed on the U.S. Marshals Service 15 Most Wanted List in June for allegedly fatally shooting Pennsylvania barbershop owner Kendell Jerome Cook, who also appeared on the show, in May of 2021.
Baltimore’s time on the run came to an end after a bar fight erupted in Davie, Florida. Those at the scene told police that a man with a knife had "battered an employee” and then threatened to go get a gun from his car before fleeing the scene, authorities said.
RELATED: How Amber Hagerman’s Unsolved Murder Led To The Creation Of The Amber Alert
Davie Police officers learned that the man in question had fled the scene in a silver sedan that had been traveling north on University Drive. They spotted the car Friday morning around 2:41 a.m. on University Drive and Griffin Road and conducted a “high-risk vehicle stop.”
Officers discovered two people inside the vehicle. A female driver was released after police determined she “was not the owner of the vehicle and had no involvement in the altercation earlier,” authorities said.
The male passenger, who was later identified as Baltimore, was taken into custody. He was found with 2.3 grams of fentanyl in his pocket and over 200 grams of marijuana and 818 ecstasy pills in the vehicle, according to the statement from the U.S. Marshals Service. Police also discovered a loaded handgun.
Baltimore initially provided police with a fake name and was carrying three fraudulent identification cards that featured his picture. Police discovered his actual identity after using a fingerprint scanner, authorities said.
“We were very pleased to hear that Michael Baltimore was taken into custody early this morning in Florida,” Cumberland County District Attorney Sean M. McCormack said in the statement. “I commend the police officers in Davie, Florida, for their alert response and safe apprehension of Baltimore. I also want to commend the U.S. Marshals Service and the Carlisle Police for their constant efforts over the past year and half to locate Michael Baltimore.”
McCormack said the focus now will be on bringing Baltimore to trial to face first-degree murder charges for Cook’s death.
Cook owned the GQ Barber Shop in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where Baltimore worked until 2019.
On the evening of May 22, 2021, Baltimore allegedly stormed into the barbershop around 7:30 p.m. and opened fire on Cook and employee Anthony White, according to an earlier statement from Carlisle Police.
Cook, who was shot several times, died at the scene from his injuries.
White survived and was able to identify Baltimore as the alleged shooter. White told police that he had known Baltimore since childhood and also worked with him at the barbershop for a time, according to court documents previously obtained by WGAL.
Baltimore had allegedly burst into the shop wearing camouflage, a bucket hat and black mask before opening fire on the two men.
Another witness inside the shop also identified Baltimore as the shooter, according to the court records.
When announcing last year that the fugitive had been added to the U.S. Marshals most wanted list, authorities described the 44-year-old as having an “extensive criminal history” and said he was “known to be violent.”
Cook and Baltimore both appeared in “90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After?” as part of a story line involving former stars Jay Smith and Ashley Martson, according to InTouch Weekly.
Cook told Martson during the 2019 season that Smith had sex with another woman inside a bathroom at the barbershop.
The couple later divorced.
After Baltimore’s arrest last week, U.S. Marshals Service Director Ronald L. Davis thanked Davie Police and law enforcement officers in Cumberland County for their work to bring Baltimore into custody.
“I hope this capture brings some sense of relief and comfort to his victims’ families,” Davis said.
Baltimore is currently being held in Florida, where he is facing local charges in connection to the bar fight and traffic stop.
