Baker Routs Burglar From Home

WASHINGTON —  White House Chief of Staff Howard H. Baker Jr. chased a burglar out of his home Saturday night after the intruder took his camera equipment and his Presidential Medal of Freedom, a White House spokesman disclosed today.

Marlin Fitzwater said Baker and his wife, Joy, came home and found their basement door open Saturday night and surprised a burglar. Fitzwater said Baker chased the burglar up the stairs of his home but he got away through a back door. An unidentified suspect was later arrested. Fitzwater said most of Baker’s camera equipment was recovered, but not the Medal of Honor. President Reagan helped rectify things by presenting Baker with a replacement medal at a staff lunch today.