Maj. John DiPietro, Miami Twp. deputy chief, said that at about 10 p.m., Miami Twp. police Officer Raymond Swallen was on patrol near the Studio 6 motel on Springboro Pike (Ohio 741) when he came across two people arguing in the parking lot. Police said the argument may have started because of drugs or money.
He was able to determine, through police record checks, that the people arguing were 23-year-old Matthew Baker and his wife, 22-year-old Stephanie Baker, DiPietro said.
Officer Swallen also was able to determine that a black Ford F-350 pickup truck, stolen in connection with the gas station robbery, was also in the parking lot, DiPietro said.
The arrest was made. At 11 p.m., the Bakers were in the Miami Twp. Jail and police were waiting for Preble County sheriff's deputies to arrive on scene.
DiPietro said Miami Twp. police were trying to determine whether to assist in a search warrant.
"We're not sure if they had checked into the motel or whether they were about to check in," DiPietro said.
Earlier Tuesday evening, Camden police Chief Tim Mikesell said authorities had set up a perimeter in Preble County to find Matthew Baker because they believed he was on foot. The perimeter was bounded by Camden West Elkton Road and Free Short Pike.
Butler County canine units and that county's sheriff's helicopter were called in to help search the heavily wooded area.
Authorities were also on the lookout for the man's wife, Stephanie Baker, believed to have been driving a stolen black Ford F-350 pickup truck.
Matthew Baker is suspected of having robbed a Valero gas station, 311 W. Central Ave., in Camden, at about 1:47 p.m., Mikesell said. Baker pointed a gun at the clerk, grabbed cash from the register and then got into a vehicle in which his wife and a third person were waiting. That vehicle was believed to have been a black SUV.
At some point, the Bakers got out of the vehicle. The driver returned to the scene of the robbery and was interviewed by authorities Tuesday night, Mikesell said. It was not immediately clear how involved that person was in the robbery or whether the person even knew that a robbery had occurred, Mikesell said.
While authorities searched for the suspects in the gas station robbery, a farmer on Free Short Pike near the search area told law enforcement officers that he returned from working in the field to find his Ford F-350 pickup truck missing. He had left it parked at the side of the road, and the keys were inside.
Stephanie Baker "is still on the run," Mikesell said at the time. "We believe at this time that they have separated."
Mikesell said they also are suspected of robbing a BP gas station in Gratis last week.