BEDFORD — A Bloomington man was arrested Thursday morning after police found him loitering near a local childcare facility while attempting to locate his estranged wife, directly violating an active protective order served to him just two days prior.
Blake Lake, 37, was taken into custody on June 11, 2026. He faces a preliminary local charge of Invasion of Privacy, a Class A Misdemeanor, for violating a court-ordered stay-away mandate.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed by Bedford Police Department Officer Zakry E. Brooking, the incident began at approximately 7:57 a.m. Officer Brooking was dispatched to Restoration Child Care, located at 3203 Washington Avenue, following a report of a suspicious male watching the facility.
The female complainant informed dispatchers that a bald man, in a white shirt, had entered the daycare parking lot and was closely watching parents drop off their children. The man then moved across the street, sat on the steps of the Englewood Baptist Church, and continued to observe the daycare before walking east on 32nd Street. Terrell requested that the individual be formally trespassed from the property.
Officer Brooking located the suspect walking west on 32nd Street between R Street and Washington Avenue. The man identified himself as Blake Lake.
When questioned by police, Lake claimed he was in the area because he thought he saw his wife’s vehicle and wanted to see his son. He explained that he and his wife had recently been evicted from their Bloomington apartment, and she was now living with her father in Bedford. Lake admitted he was walking around the neighborhood trying to locate the father’s house.
While cooperating with a formal trespass warning from the daycare, Lake asked Officer Brooking for assistance in finding the home. The officer refused to disclose the address without the homeowner’s permission. Because Lake claimed his cell phone was dead, he asked the police to call his wife on his behalf.
Bedford Police Dispatch placed the call, but Lake’s wife immediately informed the dispatcher that she had an active protective order against Lake and had no desire to speak with him. Dispatchers verified the order, confirming it had been officially served to Lake by a Monroe County Sheriff’s deputy on June 9, 2026, at 6:12 a.m.
Officer Brooking spoke with Lake’s wife over the phone. She stated that Lake had been incessantly calling and texting her since 1:00 a.m. that morning and stated she wished to press formal criminal charges for the violation.
When Officer Brooking placed Lake in handcuffs, Lake protested the arrest, claiming a judge had dropped the restraining order the previous day. The officer informed him that the protective order remained fully active in the state system.
Lake then changed his story, claiming that he had not personally sent the text messages, but had instead instructed his mother to text his wife on his behalf. Officer Brooking advised Lake that utilizing a third party to initiate contact still constituted a direct violation of the protection order.
Lake’s wife later provided the Bedford Police Department with transcripts of the text messages, which were sent from two separate phone numbers:
Lake was transported to the Bedford Police Department for administrative processing and was subsequently booked into the Lawrence County Jail for housing. The signed daycare trespass notification, active protective order, and text message transcripts have been preserved as evidence in the state’s case file.
All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. This article is based on the information provided in the probable cause affidavit and does not represent a final determination of guilt or innocence.
