Archive for January, 2013
By Caleb Hutton
Update at the bottom of this post.
Despite a flurry of rumors to the contrary, Whatcom County sheriff’s deputies haven’t found any credible evidence pointing to an attempted abduction this week on Zell Road in the Custer area.
Apparently, rumors of two child abduction attempts — one on Zell Road, another on Sunrise Road west of Lynden — have been making the rounds on Facebook for the past couple of days.
Here’s the Cliff’s Notes version of the sheriff’s office response to the Custer case:
.@mandigraves A kid got scared when a car drove by, turned around and drove by again. But no abduction attempt, according to WCSO. #Whatcom
— Bellingham Crime (@bhamcrime) January 30, 2013
And here’s what Undersheriff Jeff Parks posted in reply to a query on Facebook:
There was a report made to our office regarding a possible suspicious vehicle in the area. We have no information nor report that an actual attempt was made to abduct a child. If posting further information on the circumstances or a vehicle description is warranted, we will get that information out to the public immediately. If someone has information regarding this situation that should be reported we encourage them to call our office or 911.
Still, deputies are taking the report seriously, going door to door asking if anyone saw anything suspicious. But so far, the investigation hasn’t turned up much to substantiate the claims, and as the above note suggests, if no crime occurred there’s no reason to release a description of the vehicle.
“We have nothing to put out to the public,” Parks said Wednesday, Jan. 30.
As for the Lynden case, Parks first heard about it about an hour ago, when I called him up to ask about it. It’s possible it was never reported to law enforcement.
If anyone has information about either incident, contact the sheriff’s office at 360-650-6650. After hours, call 911.
Update at noon Thursday. Here’s some more info from the sheriff’s office.
We have received several requests to put out information regarding the continuing Facebook Posts about reports of an attempted child abduction recently in Whatcom County.
The Details that we can release:
On Tuesday 1/29/13 at 0830 hours, a Deputy was dispatched to the 2100 Block of Zell Road. The Deputy contacted the reporting party, an area resident, who was with a child who became scared when a car drove by slowly as the child was waiting for the school bus. Upon talking with the reporting party and the child the deputy determined that the driver of the car did stop nearby, but he did not get out of the vehicle, nor did he say anything to the child. The description of the car and the driver are vague as the young child was the only witness. School officials came to the location after learning that a report was being made. The Deputy did a neighborhood canvass and has contacted a number of people to determine if there were any other witnesses, or if the car or driver might be identified.
As of this time we have no identifying information on either the vehicle or driver who was only described as being “a really old male subject with a dog in the back of the car”. The car has been described as a silver compact sedan. We take these reports seriously, and in an abundance of caution we are still investigating.
No assumptions should be made from this information that anyone attempted to abduct or harm a child. We value the information and feedback from our social media followers, however we urge people to carefully evaluate information that is posted outside official channels or releases. We welcome your questions and thank our Facebook fans for their continued support and words of encouragement received daily for the men and women dedicated to keeping our community safe from criminals and predators.
As always, we recommend that residents be aware of people in their neighborhoods, watch out for each other and report suspicious activity, and in particular keep an eye on unattended young children near roadways or waiting for the school bus. It is always recommended that a parent or responsible adult accompany young children who are outside waiting for a ride or the bus.
Should a situation occur or information be received by the Sheriff’s Office that a suspect or known offender is at large, or has attempted any crime that puts the public at risk we will broadcast the appropriate information via the news media, emergency notification systems and our social media resources.
And another update.
Information regarding a suspicious circumstances report in the Lynden area. Student approached by suspicious driver.
On Tuesday evening (1/29) the Sheriff’s Office received a report that a teenage male was approached several hours earlier when he departed the school bus in the area of Sunrise and Badger roads. A white male in his 30′s, driving a black Honda Civic hatchback offered to give him a ride home in his car. The boy refused to get into the car and went to a neighbor’s house. The driver of the car looked unkempt and it appeared that he might be living out of his car. The man drove off and the boy was not able to get the license plate information. School officials have sent out notifications on this incident. This incident does not appear to have any connection to the Zell Road incident. Anyone with information as to the driver’s identity, location or vehicle should contact 911.
By Caleb Hutton
Blaine police received three new reports of a man exposing himself to women Tuesday, Jan. 29, bringing the total number of lewd conduct cases to six.
We were able to update the number just before the paper went to press. But we didn’t have enough info to post an updated map with the story.
We got more details today, so here’s the new map:
View Blaine indecent exposure cases in a larger map
One victim — as noted in the police blotter post below — actually saw the man exposing himself at 3:20 p.m. Monday. She didn’t report it until Tuesday morning.
Posted by Caleb Hutton
Text courtesy of the Blaine Police Department, with minor edits for style.
See the bottom of this post for a statement about five recent cases of lewd conduct in Blaine.
Wednesday, Jan. 23
8:19 a.m. A business near the marina in Blaine called police to report an ongoing theft of metal from their premises on McMillan Street. Officers are working with surveillance video of the scene which shows the suspects and vehicle involved in the taking.
1:02 p.m. A resident on Mitchell Street suffered a theft of property from his garage. More than $700 worth of tires and power tools were stolen. A statement and stolen property report were completed, and the homeowner is working with police on the investigation.
7:43 p.m. An employee on the evening shift at a premises downtown was at work when a man walked in and exposed himself to the woman. She yelled the suspect to leave and he ran from the building and northbound along Peace Portal Drive. Blaine officers and Border Patrol agents arrived in the area within a minute, but where not able to locate the suspect, who was described as a young adult wearing a dark gray hoodie and black pants.
8:17 p.m. Officers were dispatched to assist a tow company with recovering a vehicle parked at a residence on Harrison Avenue. The person in possession of the auto was visiting the home owner at the time, and was quite upset at having his vehicle repossessed. Officers were able to restore the peace and the recovery team were able to complete their mission.
10:20 p.m. A parent came to the police department with her teenage son in tow. The young man had an active warrant for his arrest. The juvenile was quite under the influence from an overdose of non-prescription cold medicine, and medics were called to evaluate his condition. He was transported to hospital, and booked into juvenile detention after a medical examination.
Thursday, Jan. 24
12:34 p.m. Fire and police units responded to a commercial and government building on Martin Street for a report of an activated fire alarm. The smoke which set off the alarm was was traced to a failed component in the building’s elevator equipment room. No one was aboard the lift at the time, and no rescue services were needed.
2:29 p.m. A man came into the Blaine Police Department to report the theft of his semi trailer. The victim had left the trailer parked in the 700 block of Ludwick Avenue the previous day, and returned to find it missing. Information on the trailer was entered into law enforcement databases and a report was completed. There are no suspects in the theft.
Friday, Jan. 25
8:43 a.m. A resident on C Street accidentally locked herself out of her home, and called police for help. The responding officer found that the house was very well secured. The landlord was not able to respond with a spare key, and locksmiths were advising they could not make it to the scene until hours later. The officer was able to reach the lady’s husband, who was at school in British Columbia, and he sneaked out of class to bring home a house key. The resident and her dog accepted a ride to the police station where they could stay warm until hubby arrived.
9:30 a.m. An officer patrolling the school campus found a car parked unattended with its headlights on in the main student lot on H Street. He was in the process of notifying the school when he noticed that whoever had parked the auto had also thoughtfully left it unlocked. Once he’d turned off the headlights the officer left a note for the driver explaining what had transpired.
3 p.m. A woman called police to report that she had lost $900 cash near a service station on H Street. Officers were not able to locate the money, and completed a report on the loss. If it is turned into the police department she will be notified.
11 p.m. An officer assisted Blaine City Light by documenting the locations and problems with a number of non-functioning streets light throughout the community. A light crew made the needed repairs and bulb replacements over the next few days.
Sunday, Jan. 27
6:10 p.m. A tired, cold 17-year-old boy came to the police station to turn himself in to officers. He was wanted on a felony warrant out of Mason County, and had decided that life on his own on the outside was not as comfortable as he’d imagined. The warrant was confirmed, his parent was notified, and the juvenile was booked into juvenile detention.
Monday, Jan. 28
4:55 a.m. A police officer assisted North Whatcom Fire & Rescue by serving as a first responder for a woman suffering chest pains in her apartment on D Street. The officer, defibrillator in hand, monitored the woman’s condition until relieved by medics.
7:38 p.m. Police were dispatched to a report that a teenager was threatening to harm herself at a D Street residence. The arriving officer found that no one at the house was suicidal. The only distraught person present was a young man who was having a tantrum about the water that was leaking through the downstairs ceiling from a problematic upstairs commode. The officer was in the wrong union to help solve that particular emergency.
Tuesday, Jan. 29
9:02 a.m. A motorist who stopped in Blaine at a service station on Monday called police the next day to report having witnessed a crime here. She explained that while she was fueling her car she observed a man in a nearby car obviously enjoying the act of exposing himself to her. Police are investigating.
Police Chief Mike Haslip also released the following statement Tuesday afternoon.
The Blaine Police Department has received five separate reports in the past two months regarding a man exposing himself to adult women in public locations, masturbating in public view. The suspect in each incident appeared to be directing his behavior to the attention of one victim. In all but one instance the suspect was alone in the driver’s seat of a car at the time. In one instance a suspect walked in to the customer area of an open business during a period when there was one female employee visible in the room. In none of the incidents that have been reported has a suspect spoken to or attempted to come closer to a victim.
Crimes of this nature are very unusual in the community. It is possible the same suspect is involved in all of the incidents. In each case the suspect has left the area immediately after being observed by the victim and prior to law enforcement arrival. The victims in each case involving a vehicle describe it as a nondescript white car. Some of the victims report that the suspect they observed was wearing a hooded sweatshirt.
We are seeking the public’s help in identifying the suspect and stopping these crimes. If you witness a crime like this in progress, immediately put distance between yourself and the suspect. When you are in a position of safety, observe the vehicle: the most crucial piece of information is a license plate number from the suspect car. The color, make, model, or any unique identifiers like a bumper sticker or window decal are also helpful. If there are other people in the area and you are safe, shouting out to attract their attention to the vehicle and suspect can provide more witnesses an opportunity to see and describe the suspect and vehicle to police. Call 911 as soon as it is safe to do so.
By Caleb Hutton
BELLINGHAM — A homeless man was arrested after police said he shoplifted three bottles of cheap whiskey — in three separate trips — from a Bellingham Rite Aid, and drunkenly beat two men under a bridge while officers investigated.
Early Jan. 28, police were called to Rite Aid, 3227 Northwest Drive, to a report of someone shoplifting a fifth of whiskey. A linchpin witness left the scene before police could get much info, but a basic suspect description matched Frank Ellis Revey-Lane, 28, a homeless man known to frequent the store, said Bellingham police spokesman Mark Young.
So Rite Aid employees asked police to issue him a trespass warning.
At 2:30 p.m., a store employee saw Revey-Lane fleeing the store, again, clutching another fifth of cheap whiskey, Young said. During a brief chase on foot, the culprit ditched the evidence, shattering it on the asphalt.
Police spoke with Revey-Lane under a nearby bridge in the same block, where he’s known to stay. They found a freshly opened bottle of the missing brand of whiskey in the hovel. He was warned not to go into the store again and giving a slip of paper explaining the warning.
Officers left the bridge and set up a short-lived stakeout outside the store.
Within minutes, Revey-Lane walked into Rite Aid again and came out with another bottle of whiskey, Young said.
About the same time, two men — aged 33 and 43 — emerged from the homeless camp under the bridge with swollen, beaten faces. They said Revey-Lane had punched them in the face, Young said. At least one of them needed immediate treatment at St. Joseph hospital.
Revey-Lane was booked into Whatcom County Jail on investigation of second-degree burglary, second-degree theft, second-degree trespassing, fourth-degree assault and fourth-degree domestic violence assault (because one of them men was a relative).
Police didn’t note an obvious motive for the assaults, but Young pointed out Revey-Lane was very drunk.
By Caleb Hutton
… sheriff’s deputies were arresting a felon suspected of having firearms, after getting tipped off the man had moved back to the area and made threats at people who had restraining orders against him.
Likely because of the proximity to the border, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter was called in to ensure the suspect, Timothy Wayne Ehlers, didn’t try to escape into Canada, said Whatcom County Undersheriff Jeff Parks.
Ehlers was booked into jail at 1:20 p.m. on suspicion of illegal trafficking of a firearm and illegal possession of a firearm.
By Caleb Hutton
FERNDALE — For the second time in less than a year, an Everson-area man has been arrested after leaving his wallet behind at the scene of the crime.
Joseph Hugh Cline, 30, was charged last week with leading police on a 10-mile chase that started with him going 10 mph over the speed limit Jan. 19 in Ferndale.
Police allege they clocked Cline’s car going 35 mph on Main Street. Cline pulled into the parking lot of a nearby McDonald’s, then squealed away just as the officer was exiting his patrol car, according to charging documents.
Officers chased the suspect along back roads: He zipped through stop signs and recklessly passed other cars, according to the charges. At the intersection of Starry and East Smith roads, someone jumped out of the moving car and ran away.
Here’s a map of the chase:
Police found Cline’s wallet wedged beside the driver’s seat, according to the charges. His Nooksack tribal identity card was inside. A woman in the car told police she didn’t know Cline, but she had accepted a ride from him at the Ferndale Haggen. She picked him out of a photo lineup.
Cline was booked into Whatcom County Jail the following afternoon, Jan. 20. He’s charged with attempting to elude police and driving with a license suspended in the first degree.
In February 2012, Cline was a passenger in a car involved in a suspected hit and run in Whatcom County, according to court records. The driver eventually pulled over, but Cline ran out of the car, leaving behind his wallet — along with the same Nooksack ID card — and a small black nylon case containing methamphetamine. More of Cline’s personal property was in the case. He was convicted of conspiracy to possess meth.
Cline has six felonies on his record: harassment, felony assault, violating a no-contact order, taking a motor vehicle without permission, possession of illegal drugs and, for the latest drug crime, conspiracy to possess meth.
By Caleb Hutton
A 49-year-old drunk driver must serve one year in prison for crashing into a utility pole along Blaine Road, sending his girlfriend to St. Joseph hospital for a compound leg fracture.
Jack A. Smith Sr., of Birch Bay, showed signs of “extreme” impairment on the night of Nov. 19, after he crashed his Plymouth Voyager into the pole, according to charging documents. He admitted to troopers he was drunk.
His 48-year-old girlfriend — who attended several recent court hearings still bound to a wheelchair — suffered injuries to both legs. Neither Smith nor his girlfriend wore a seat belt.
Smith pleaded guilty earlier this month. He was sentenced last week to a year behind bars. He had two past felonies out of of Nebraska for possessing illegal drugs.
By Caleb Hutton
A man’s arm was possibly severed by the bed of a dump truck Friday afternoon, Jan. 25, Lynden police said.
He was driven by pickup to the Lynden fire station on Fourth Street at 12:15 p.m.
Man’s arm partly amputated. Got pinned under bed of dump truck. Driven to #Lynden fire station, 215 Fourth St. In & out of consciousness.
— Bellingham Crime (@bhamcrime) January 25, 2013
The man was wearing a jacket and, according to initial reports, he still had it on when he arrived at the station. So it wasn’t clear how bad the injury was. He was rushed away by ambulance.
Nobody picked up the phone at the fire department half an hour later, just before this was posted.
Police sent an officer to the fire station to look into the situation. Lynden Police Deputy Chief John Billester confirmed most of the information above, but didn’t know much else in the minutes that followed the 911 call.
This post will be updated.
—
Update at 2:45 p.m. Here’s a draft of the story that will go online in a moment.
LYNDEN — A construction worker’s arm was possibly severed Friday afternoon, Jan. 25, when his limb got pinned beneath the bed of a dump truck near Lynden.
The man, in his late 20s, was doing dirt work at a construction site off of Double Ditch Road at about noon when his arm was crushed between the body and the bed of the truck, said Lynden Assistant Fire Chief Robert Spinner.
Coworkers with the local construction company rushed him in a pickup to the Lynden fire station at 215 Fourth St. He was loaded into an ambulance and taken to St. Joseph hospital.
Spinner wouldn’t speculate about whether the man’s life was in danger, but he said the injuries were “traumatic.” Citing health privacy laws, he declined to release the name of the man and the severity of his injuries. He also wouldn’t name the company.
Serious workplace accidents are investigated by the state Department of Labor & Industries.
By Caleb Hutton
An overheating light fixture above a racquetball court likely led to the evacuation of the Bellingham YMCA building Wednesday morning, Jan. 23.
A few dozen people — children, swimmers, staff and others — were asked to leave the building after a report of smoke in a men’s locker room at 11:43 a.m.
“This had been a smell staff had been chasing and couldn’t find for some time,” said Andy Day, the firefighter in charge at the scene. “So they gave us a holler.”
Photo by Colin Diltz
The smell was similar to wood burning, so that made firefighters think it might be more serious. One block of North State Street was closed to traffic while firefighters investigated.
There was no fire, only faint smoke. It appeared the smell had wafted up a floor or two from the racquetball court downstairs, Day said. People were allowed back into the building about 45 minutes after the initial 911 call.
Here’s the Twitter feed from @bhamcrime:
#policescanner: Smoke in the lobby of YMCA on N State Street. Fire engines en route. #Bellingham
— Bellingham Crime (@bhamcrime) January 23, 2013
Smoke’s on the third floor. Main lobby not evacuated yet. Firefighters just ran upstairs. #Bellingham twitter.com/bhamcrime/stat…
— Bellingham Crime (@bhamcrime) January 23, 2013
.@edmunds6677 Everyone left upper floors. People were lingering in main floor lobby. And now being evacuated.
— Bellingham Crime (@bhamcrime) January 23, 2013
YMCA evacuated. Smoke reported in men’s locker room. #bellingham twitter.com/bhamcrime/stat…
— Bellingham Crime (@bhamcrime) January 23, 2013
One block if N State blocked off as firefighters investigate. Building still evacuated. #Bellingham twitter.com/bhamcrime/stat…
— Bellingham Crime (@bhamcrime) January 23, 2013
@bhamcrime People allowed back in YMCA in just a moment.
— Bellingham Crime (@bhamcrime) January 23, 2013
Likely culprit of smoke in #Bellingham YMCA building: Overheating light fixture above racquetball court on first floor, firefighter says.
— Bellingham Crime (@bhamcrime) January 23, 2013
By Debbie Townsend
Varieties of Annie’s Homegrown Frozen Pizza are being recalled due to the possible presence of fragments of flexible metal mesh caused by a faulty screen at a third-party flour mill.
Affected products are distributed at grocery, mass and natural food stores throughout the United States. All varieties of Annie’s rising crust frozen pizza with a best by date including and between Jan. 9 and Sept. 14, 2013, are affected.
The recalled varieties are:
- Organic Four Cheese Pizza, 23.5 oz UPC 013562 200016
- Organic Pepperoni Pizza, 23.6 oz UPC 013562 200009
- Organic Supreme Pizza, 25.4 oz UPC 013562 200023
- Organic Spinach and Mushroom Pizza, 25.0 oz UPC 013562 200054
- Four Cheese Pizza, 22.5 oz UPC 013562 200078
- Pepperoni Pizza, 22.6 oz UPC 013562 200061
- BBQ Recipe Chicken Pizza, 23.1 oz UPC 013562 200092
The company announced the recall after learning a fine metal mesh screen failed at a third-party flour mill and fragments of flexible metal mesh were found in the flour and pizza dough. All Annie’s manufacturers have metal control programs that include magnets and metal detection devices. Pieces of the fine wire were too small to be detected and could have found their way into the finished product. While no metal has been found in Annie’s finished product, as a precaution, Annie’s initiated this voluntary recall. There have been no consumer complaints, illnesses or injuries reported to date.
Consumers should return recalled pizzas to where they purchased them for for a full refund. Consumers with questions may call Annie’s pizza recall hotline at 1-888-825-6720 or visit www.annies.com/pizzarecall for more information.
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