A former police officer who was acquitted of murder after he fatally shot a man during a routine traffic stop said he feared for his life.
Former Leading Senior Constable Timothy Baker was on highway patrol in Melbourne’s inner-south in 2013 when he pulled over 44-year-old Vlado Micetic.
The pair got into a verbal and physical altercation, during which Baker said Micetic pulled out a knife, prompting the officer to draw his gun.
Baker, who claimed he had shot Micetic in self-defence, was acquitted of murder in 2017 at the Victorian Supreme Court.
In an interview with 3AW on Thursday, Baker opened up about the moment his 24-year career came to an end.
Former Leading Senior Constable Timothy Baker (pictured) was acquitted of murder after he fatally shot Vlado Micetic, 44, three times in 2013 during a routine traffic stop
The former Victorian cop (pictured) said he shot Micetic in self-defence after he felt threatened by the 44-year-old who pulled out a knife
‘We ended up in front of his car and that’s when I saw the knife and I thought it was my day, I thought I was done,’ Baker said.
Baker said he was working alone on August 25 when he stopped Micetic and his female passenger for having stolen license plates on their car.
The former officer said Micetic became argumentative after he asked him to get out of car and empty his pockets.
Audio captured the moment the pair got into an argument.
Baker said that it all went ‘pear-shaped’ when he yelled at the female passenger after she got out of the car.
‘That’s when the deceased started to wrestle with me,’ Baker said.
‘It was a bit of a dance back and forward, we were pulling and pushing each other.’
Audio captured the moment the pair got into verbal altercation as Micetic (pictured) tells Baker: ‘You’re gonna get in big trouble, you’re gonna lose your job’
The incident occurred in Melbourne’s inner-south (pictured), August 25, when Baker pulled over Micetic and female partner who were driving with stolen plates
During the tussle, Micetic can be heard telling Baker: ‘You’re gonna get in big trouble, you’re gonna lose your job.’
Baker responds: ‘I don’t think so,’ before firing three fatal shots at Micetic.
Prosecutors had argued in court that Baker had lost his cool and planted the flick knife on Micetic to prove that he was forced to act in self-defence, The Age reported.
‘He murdered a man for no other reason than impatience, anger, and then he sought to cover up his crime by use of a transparently false tissue of lies, as revealed in his various discussions with police and the detailed statement he made,’ prosecutor Andrew Tinney said in the 2017 hearing.
Baker resigned from Victoria police in 2016 after serving for 24 years.
In 2017, Baker was acquitted of murder claiming that he had acted in self-defence despite prosecutors arguing that the knife was planted by Baker