Tag: blaine
Text courtesy of the Blaine Police Department, with minor edits for style.
Wednesday, March 20
1:45 p.m. A police officer driving on Peace Portal had his patrol car pelted by rocks thrown up by a passing vehicle. This was strange since both cars were driving on a clear paved street and even the roadway shoulders were gravel free. The mystery was resolved a couple of minutes later when the passing car was found disabled nearby. It turned out that the patrol car had been struck by the passing car’s loosened lug nuts flying off its wheel. The driver realized that something was seriously amiss just in time to stop before the wheel itself flew off into traffic. Officers searched for and recovered three of the projectiles, and delivered them to the mechanic who was making repairs.
8:40 p.m. A Blaine business on D Street called to report receiving counterfeit U.S. currency after a customer attempted to pay for purchased goods. An officer arrived and contacted the customer, a business person from British Columbia who advised that she had received the fake U.S. $50 bill from one of her customers a week earlier. The officer confiscated the paper and forwarded it to the U.S. Secret Service.
Thursday, March 21
12:45 a.m. A patrol officer found a transient camped out on the porch of a closed store at about 1 a.m. on a freezing night. The gentleman was not subject to any criminal restraints. Police gave him a courtesy ride to the Lighthouse Mission to save him from spending the rest of the night in the frigid dark.
5:08 p.m. A patrol officer observed a vehicle fail to yield for a Blaine School District bus which had stopped on Peace Portal Drive with its warning lights flashing and was discharging students. The officer stopped the violator and listened to his explanation that he was from out of state and did not know that he needed to stop for standing school buses displaying flashing lights and stop signs. The motorist was educated with a traffic citation.
Friday, March 22
9:45 a.m. A city employee reported that a door to a house on a Harrison Avenue was ajar, although there was no one around the place. Police officers responded and checked the property. There was no fresh damage or indications of any crime except neglect. The door was closed again, the officers returned to patrol, and the neighborhood tabby cat returned to the sunny patch of porch which it had sulkily abandoned when the cops arrived.
9:52 a.m Blaine officers investigating a case involving a stolen vehicle left at a hit and run scene stopped a vehicle on the freeway on-ramp at the south end of Blaine. The driver of the stopped car fled on foot into a nearby industrial area. Police and U.S. Border Patrol agents established a perimeter and U.S. Border Patrol agents tracked the suspect to his hiding place in a commercial dumpster behind a business. The 24-year-old Birch Bay resident was also wanted by the sheriff’s office for investigation on a burglary, and was booked into jail.
11:26 a.m. A resident on Mitchell Street called police to report that his vehicle was stolen from his home overnight. The remains of his 1992 Cadillac were found abandoned and destroyed by a collision with a tree near the freeway off ramp to the truck route. Police are investigating.
1:07 p.m. A resident on Peace Portal Drive reported that her bicycle had been stolen overnight. The tan REI Novara-brand Safari-model mountain bike is valued at several hundred dollars. Police are investigating.
2:02 p.m. Police were asked to intercede in a possible truancy case involving two high school students on Cedar Street. An officer got information that the kids might be at home, and found them there claiming they were sick. When Mom found out the kids were home she asked for assistance getting the teens delivered back to school. The officer was happy to oblige and the school was happy to have their customers back on campus.
8:17 p.m. An officer was dispatched to a business on 12th Street to take custody of two counterfeit U.S. $20 bills. The notes were discovered when employees were balancing their tills. Police took the bills and forwarded them to the U.S. Secret Service.
Saturday, March 23
11:10 a.m. A homeowner on a Rene Court was contacted by an older motorist who stopped to ask for directions. The gentleman appeared disoriented and possibly having breathing difficulty. The resident went inside for a minute to call for assistance but the motorist drove away. Officers searched the area for a blue newer Cadillac with a military veteran license plate and placed a welfare check request with neighboring agencies, but the driver and vehicle were not located.
2 p.m. A patrol officer attempted to stop a vehicle speeding 64 mph in the 35 mph zone on Peace Portal. The driver apparently tried to evade the officer by turning onto side streets, but was overtaken and stopped on Clyde Street. The motorist was arrested for reckless driving and negligent eluding, and released after signing a promise to appear for a mandatory court hearing.
Sunday, March 24
5:10 a.m. U.S. Customs and Border Protection called and requested Blaine Police interview a disoriented driver on Second Street. An officer arrived at the Peace Arch Port of Entry and contacted a Bothell, Wash., resident who had gotten lost after leaving a grocery store near his home hours earlier. The man agreed to get some sleep at a nearby motel and wait until daylight to drive again, so as not to get lost. The officer escorted him to the motel to make sure he got there.
6:10 p.m. A sharp eyed cashier at a convenience store service station on D Street found a counterfeit U.S. $20 bill among the cash offered by a regular customer for payment. Police were called to the scene and interviewed the customer. She explained that the fake U.S. note had been received as payment at their own business in Vancouver, B.C., at some point in the preceding days. The bogus bill was impounded by officers and will be forwarded to the U.S. Secret Service along with information about its travels.
6:47 p.m. Police received a report of a red Mustang driving recklessly in a mall parking lot on H Street. An officer arrived within a minute and upon arrival the car had already left the area. There was smoke still visible from the burning tires when officers arrived.
7:10 p.m. Customers busily washing their clothes in a coin laundry business on Third Street found a credit card laying in one of the machines, and brought it to a police officer who was busily washing his patrol car in the nearby station parking lot. The customer was thanked, the card was impounded, and the owner or her bank will be advised of the recovery.
Monday, March 25
2:10 p.m. Officers responded to a report of two injured bald eagles in a Semiahmoo Development. The state wildlife agency was advised and a private agency responded to care for the birds.
7:15 p.m. A passerby in a commercial business parking lot on H Street noticed a car without a handicapped parking permit stopped in a marked handicapped stall. She mentioned to the driver that a handicapped permit was needed to use the parking place, but the man’s profane abusive reply made it very clear that education was not going to be effective at resolving the problem. The witness picked up the phone to call the police, and as she did so the driver and vehicle left the parking lot. Officers have a valid vehicle license plate on the gray Honda Civic and are looking to contact and identify the suspect.
7:46 p.m. A man called from Eighth Street asking for a welfare check on his child, who is the subject of a custody dispute and currently under the court ordered care of the child’s mother. The gentleman had no direct information the child was in harm’s way, and the court order prevented him from having any contact whatsoever with child or mother. An officer advised him that the police were not going to violate the court order on his behalf, and he should use his upcoming court date to air his concerns.
Posted by Caleb Hutton
Text courtesy of the Blaine Police Department, with minor edits for style.
Wednesday, Feb. 20
1:45 p.m. A driver was maneuvering his big commercial vehicle through a business parking lot when a tiny part of his truck briefly met with the very edge of the large metal roof awning over a drive up ATM kiosk on Martin Street. The contact was just enough send the roof crashing 10 feet down to the pavement, narrowly but sufficiently missing the vehicles parked around it. Officers responded to investigate the collision, and contacted the lucky car owners to move their autos out of harms way. The broken roof was removed and the ATM’s owner was advised that their cash machine was getting rained on.
Thursday, Feb. 21
12:30 a.m. A family left home on Garfield Street in a rush when their young son fell ill and needed to go to the hospital. They’d not been then long when they remembered that they had loaded a batch of freshly made bread dough into their hot kitchen oven before they left. They called for police assistance and an officer was dispatched to the residence. He contacted a neighbor for assistance, and found that the kitchen was still standing and the baked bread was not ablaze.
1:25 p.m. A police officer was dispatched to a service station on D Street when attendants there came across a counterfeit U.S. $50 bill. The officer impounded the fake note for the U.S. Secret Service, and contacted the person who had tried to pay for fuel with the bogus bill. The man explained that he had received the fake U.S. bill from a bank in South Surrey, B.C. The same service station intercepted another fake $50 bill later the following day.
Friday, Feb. 22
2:57 p.m. Curiosity and temptation got the better of a business employee who was cleaning a storage room and happened upon an old, unused panic alarm remote control. The crew member punched the button to see what would happen, and the device’s long life batteries did the rest. The company called their alarm company to cancel the resulting response by emergency services personnel, and the first arriving officer made sure that everything was all right inside in the Boblett Street business.
4:22 p.m. A commercial driver was backing his truck off of Boblett Street into a business driveway when the passenger side of his trailer struck a Blaine City light pole. The metal pole and light crashed to the pavement blocking the driveway of another business, but missed the people and vehicles in the area. Police arrived to investigate and document the collision. A crew from the city’s electrical department removed the broken pole, placed safety cones around the scene and secured the exposed wiring at the pedestal.
8:56 p.m. A service station employee became suspicious of activity occurring in the cab of a box truck parked on their lot. It was dark and the truck’s windows were all fogged up, but it appeared that the man and woman inside were engaged in an activity both friendly and energetic. The officer who was called to investigate found that either the calisthenics had concluded or had not been quite what they seemed. In either case the couple decided to leave the parking lot and wait elsewhere for their border crossing paperwork.
11:42 p.m. Just before midnight, police responded to a 911 call from a man stating that he had been robbed near the intersection of Third and G streets by a big guy who was possibly armed. It turned out that the big guy the caller referred was the police officer who had written the caller a traffic ticket an hour earlier. The caller then complained that he was employed by the Miss America Pageant and was paid in cash for his labors only to have the ticket writer steal his money. The responding officers tried to help the caller through his concerns but his mental state made that difficult. In the end he was warned that false reporting was a criminal offense.
Saturday, Feb. 23
1:54 p.m. A person called to report that loud music was being played near their home on Pintail Loop around 2:30 a.m. The person was advised to call when the music is actually being played so that police could respond and identify the offending location. The complainant advised that usually starts after his 7 p.m. bedtime and continues through the night. Patrol officers were advised of the complaint for their patrols.
2:35 p.m. Police received multiple calls for service from a elderly resident on Pintail Loop, but none of the events reported could be substantiated by investigation. An officer contacted relatives of the person to advise that their family member may be experiencing some age-related difficulties.
3:47 p.m. A U.S. Customs canine team working at the Peace Arch Port of Entry alerted to a car with California plates, which was re-entering the United States from Canada. Customs officers inspected the vehicle and an adult inside admitted to ownership of several grams of marijuana and a personal use amount of cocaine that was recovered from the man’s luggage. Blaine police were called to investigate, and arrested the 33-year-old Pasadena, Calif., resident for possession of cocaine. He was processed and released pending a mandatory court appearance.
8:03 p.m. Blaine officers responded with U.S. Border Patrol agents to a night time report that a man had walked south out of Peace Arch Park and headed down 2nd Street toward D Street through the residential neighborhood. When he spotted the approaching Border Patrol vehicles the man fled onto property adjacent to the street and tried to evade the responders. He gave up when he realized there were only two sides to the hedgerow he was using for cover, but four patrol cars surrounding him. The man admitted that he had entered the US without inspection, and the agents took him into custody.
9:17 p.m. A couple called police from Blaine Street to report that late the previous evening they had been awakened by the sound of someone jiggling the handle or lock on one of their home’s exterior doors. An officer responded and checked the front and back doors and lock sets, and spoke with the landlord. The information was shared with all officers for their patrols.
10:35 p.m. An officer contacted a resident who stated that two boys had been at his apartment complex possibly knocking on doors and running away. The officer had been in the area and spotted the duo as they ran across D Street, ducking through apartment complexes, and he found the boys nearby. They said they were out playing, but denied any knock and run activities. The pair was advised to head home for the night and they complied.
Monday, Feb. 25
8:53 a.m. An officer patrolling near the school campus stopped a motorist for speeding in the school zone. During the contact the officer found that the driver’s privilege to operate a vehicle in Washington had been suspended for several years, after he failed to take care of a speeding citation he received in Skagit County. The man was arrested for the criminal license violation and his vehicle was impounded. After processing he was released with a mandatory court date for driving with a suspended license, and a notice of infraction for speeding in the school zone.
Tuesday, Feb. 26
8:43 a.m. A man opening for the day at his business near Blaine Marina discovered that overnight thieves had broken in to two large storage sheds and prowled his property, stealing a quantity of metal parts and scrap. Police are investigating and descriptions of the suspects and their vehicle have been provided to all patrol officers. The extent of the loss is still being determined.
10:59 a.m. A business at Blaine Harbor report that a lock had been cut off of one of their cold storage freezer containers to their business overnight. The case is under investigation.
12:06 p.m. Following a report from a resident who suffered graffiti vandalism to his garage on D Street, an officer found several other instances of the same gang style tagging which occurred Monday night in to Tuesday morning, in an area along D and E streets. All of the property owners were contacted and advised of the damage so that they could immediately clean it off and prevent the vandalism from spreading. Meanwhile officers are searching for a fluorescent orange-fingered bad artist with poor spelling and worse social skills.
Posted by Caleb Hutton
Text courtesy of the Blaine Police Department, with minor edits for style.
Friday, Feb. 15
11:48 p.m. A resident on Garfield Avenue called police to report her husband was missing, explaining that he had left hours earlier for a short drive over to the grocery store but never returned. Several calls to the man’s cell phone had gone unanswered and the reporting party was growing seriously concerned. Information on the gentleman and his car was broadcast, and in about 20 minutes an officer found the man’s car parked on Marine Drive. Hubby was inside, fast asleep. He was awakened from his blissful slumber and advised to head home for more practice at sleeping well in uncomfortable positions.
Saturday, Feb. 16
9:04 p.m. A gentleman parked his car downtown on Peace Portal Drive for a few hours while having dinner, and returned to find his vehicle had been damaged by a hit and run driver in his absence. Police responded to take a report, and a few days later were able to locate the running vehicle. The likely driver was identified, and a case report was forwarded to the city prosecutor for review of charges.
Sunday, Feb. 17
1:31 a.m. A bit after midnight a resident on Garfield Avenue answered a loud knock at the front door to find two strangers standing on his porch. One man was very large and very intoxicated, and the other was more weight and alcohol-content proportionate. The larger man profanely and repeatedly ordered the resident to stop speeding in the nearby alleyway or face deadly consequences, and handed the resident a handwritten note bearing a similar message. The resident advised he does not speed in the alley or elsewhere, and had not driven anywhere at all in the past 24 hours. Police are investigating to identify the maker of the threats.
10:15 p.m. Police were called to Blaine Avenue when youthful street play in a residential neighborhood took a turn for the worse. Witnesses reported that a group of kids they did not recognize were yelling in the streets and disturbing the area. One young man on a bicycle deliberately rode toward an approaching car, daring the motorist to strike him, and he and his friends then began making rude comments to the driver. Another youth began bragging about his proficiency at breaking in to cars, offering to show his younger partners how to do the crime. Officers located the troublemakers and turned them over to their parents, who were visiting a relative in the area.
11:10 p.m. Two young men reported that a resident of an adjoining apartment building on Mary Avenue had made threatening motions at them as they were parking their vehicles in the common parking area. Police contacted and interviewed the person who made the gestures. She denied purposefully trying to frighten anyone and countered that the young men were probably exaggerating anything they might have seen. She was warned to not attempt any more comical stabbing motions à la Bates Motel while standing close to windows that look over the parking lot.
Tuesday, Feb. 19
5:11 p.m. Police responded to an emergency call for assistance at a residence where a person was unconscious. On arrival they found a family member performing CPR on an elderly relative. The officer assisted until medic units arrived. The elderly man had been in poor health and was not revived.
Wednesday, Feb. 20
1:44 a.m. Officers responded to contact the driver of a car parked on 14th Street, after the vehicle’s driver called 911 saying that she was about to die. The lady living in the car said the government had already taken everything from her and was now conspiring with Canadian authorities to prevent her from seeking refugee status there. Apparently she had repeatedly tried to leave the United States but was having trouble finding a country that would harbor her, and felt that the police were among those responsible. She was not an immediate threat to herself or others, and refused all offers of aid and suggestions for assistance.
Posted by Caleb Hutton
Text courtesy of the Blaine Police Department, with minor edits for style.
Wednesday, Feb. 6
11:09 p.m. A motel manager was one of the people who called police to report that someone was pressure washing equipment in an alley adjacent to the motel. Guests and residents in the area were unable to sleep due to the din of the industrial-strength engine and pressure blasting away. An officer found a vendor using the alley to blast clean metal commercial kitchen equipment from a nearby restaurant. The vendor was advised of the noise ordinance provisions and the legal hours for such activities, and he agreed to stop for the rest of the night.
Thursday, Feb. 7
10:06 a.m. Officers responded to a residence to investigate a 911 hang up on Alder Street. They found that there was no emergency, and provided the occupant with a suggestion that he read his new phone’s instruction manual before making a third attempt at adding 911 to his speed dial list.
5:30 p.m. Police received information that a juvenile girl had been sexually assaulted by a person she knows. Officers investigated and arrested a teenage male for third-degree rape. The teen was booked into juvenile detention, and the police investigation continues.
Friday, Feb. 8
4:24 a.m. Police responded to a newspaper delivery woman’s report of a fire alarm sounding inside an unoccupied residence. Firefighters entered the house and determined that an old, upstairs smoke detector had become faulty. There was no fire, and the house was secured.
10:24 a.m. An officer stopped a vehicle for speeding 52 mph in a 25 mph zone on D Street near Ninth Street. The 52-year-old Coquitlam, B.C., resident was arrested for reckless driving, cited, and released with a date for a mandatory court appearance.
6 p.m. A teenage girl reported she was walking on H Street near Harrison Avenue when a van quickly pulled up beside her and the man driving it asked her if he could give her a ride. The girl ran away and called her parents. Dad picked up his scared daughter and they reported the incident to police. An officer searched the area for the van and suspect without success. Case under investigation.
Saturday, Feb. 9
3:20 a.m. An officer conducting security checks at a commercial complex came upon a portable toilet had been knocked over outside a warehouse. It did not appear otherwise damaged, but the amenity was no longer useful to anyone who might have need of it’s former vertical stance. The officer made sure no hapless customer was trapped inside, and notified the company which owns the rental unit so they could remove it.
4:30 a.m. A resident called police to report that a thief had gotten in to his unlocked pickup truck overnight on Garfield Avenue. The vehicle’s glove box was ransacked and stuff strewn about. The culprit stole two key rings, each holding about ten keys to various locks which protect various things that the owner does keep secure. The victim’s truck had been parked behind his home in a parking spot by the alley at the time. A check of the area uncovered other unlocked vehicles along the same alley which had also been entered and rummaged through. All officers were advised for their patrols. [Editor's note: Several other vehicle prowls were discovered on neighboring streets and filed in separate cases.]
9:55 a.m. Police were dispatched to the Blaine School District athletic fields on Pipeline Road. A concerned neighbor had noticed a young girl walking alone on the fields behind the fence, holding a soccer ball and wearing light clothing inappropriate for the cold rain and breeze. There was no adult or anyone else in sight to care for the kid, and the resident was concerned for her safety. An officer checked the field, dug outs, and perimeter of the fields and the surrounding country block. He found a solitary soccer ball sitting unattended in the rain, but was unable to locate the lonely little apparition which had been carrying it.
5 p.m. An employee at a business on Peace Portal Drive called police to report that, about four hours earlier, a man whom no one knew walked into their facility and wandered making people nervous by his apparent lack of purpose. U.S. Border Patrol agents assisted an officer with checking the area to make sure the curious gentleman was no longer in the vicinity.
Sunday, Feb. 10
4:44 a.m. A police officer assisted medics at a G Street residence following a report from relatives there that a family member had fallen out of bed at a home. The arriving emergency responders found that the person had not actually fallen, but had purposefully and happily gotten down on the floor to better satisfy an irresistible 4 a.m. urge to count out the contents of a coin collection. Apparently this is one of the minor potential side effects of at least one prescription sleeping aid.
11 a.m. A boat owner and his friend went to Semiahmoo Marina to make some needed repairs to the dinghy on the man’s yacht. They arrived only to discover that the dinghy and its outboard motor had been stolen from his boat overnight. Between the time of the call to police and an officer’s arrival at the marina, the owner solved the case. It turned out that two of his nefarious neighbors at the marina had overheard that the skiff needed repair, so they hauled it over and set to work fixing it, each unaware that neither of them had told the owner what they were doing.
4:59 p.m. An adult man was injured when assaulted at a residence on Harrison Avenue. The victim left the house but was located nearby by police and medics were called to evaluate his injuries. The man had suffered a minor self inflicted knife wound, and had been punched in the face by his dad. Police investigated, arrested the 58-year-old Blaine resident father, and booked him in to jail for misdemeanor domestic violence assault.
Monday, Feb. 11
10:25 a.m. City employees reported that one or more cretins had vandalized some of the metal fish sculptures which decorate the Marine Drive Park Salmon Wall. An officer checked the area and did not find any other damage. It appears that someone with large muddy shoes and more weight than IQ had used the fish as makeshift stairs to climb the wall, bending the metal pins to which the sculptures are welded. The pins and welds held firm, and some bending in the other direction should get the salmon all swimming upstream once more.
11:09 a.m. A homeowner called police when he discovered that equipment had been stolen from his unlocked detached garage on Adelia Street. A well used, well cared for and distinctive gray Giant-brand 24-speed bicycle, a small red rototiller, a hammer, a 30-year-old Skil saw and an almost-new pair of bolt cutters were among the items taken. Police are investigating the burglary and theft, which possibly happened late Friday or early Saturday.
2:02 p.m. Police were called when concerned witnesses saw a very intoxicated man get into a vehicle downtown and drive east on H Street. Dispatch broadcast a good description of the man and his pickup truck, and a U.S. Border Patrol agent soon advised Blaine officers that the suspect was near the post office. Police contacted the driver and determined from field sobriety tests that he was indeed under the influence of alcohol. The 64-year-old Birch Bay resident was arrested and booked into jail after processing.
Tuesday, Feb. 12
2:59 p.m. A resident on F Street called police when a pickup came to a stop out in the road blocking a driveway, then the driver leapt out and fled on foot. An officer arrived to investigate and happened upon a gentleman who turned out to be the fleet-footed motorist’s friend. The buddy explained that the driver had been headed to work when his truck ran out of gas, so he bolted down the street to catch the bus to get to work on time. Officer and friend acknowledged the driver’s commitment by pushing his truck to the side of the street and safely parking it for him.
6:56 p.m. A resident contacted police after a man driving a white Subaru Impreza stopped near two teenagers walking down Adelia Street, and made a strange remark to them which they believed to be about drugs. The man then got out of his vehicle, said he was looking for someone and mentioned a person’s name. The teenagers hightailed it to a nearby friend’s home and reported the incident. Officers are investigating.
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.
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 garage used for woodworking burned to the ground Thursday night, Jan. 17, east of Blaine.
Before:
Courtesy of the Whatcom County Assessor’s Office.
During:
Courtesy of North Whatcom Fire & Rescue.
And I don’t have an after photo, but … well, it goes without saying, it was a total loss.
The fire at 8899 Giles Road was called in at 9:22 p.m. Firefighters arrived to find the shed beyond saving, said North Whatcom Fire and Rescue Division Chief Henry Hollander. The above photo was taken moments after the first fire engine showed up.
So firefighters focused on keeping the flames from spreading to the nearby house. It took about 20 minutes before the flames were knocked down. Three hours and 3,000 gallons of water later, first-responders finally cleared the scene.
Hollander estimated the damage at $10,000 for the structure and $25,000 for the table saws and other woodworking tools stowed inside.
The county fire marshal is investigating the cause, but right now the evidence points to a wood stove the homeowner was using to keep the 24-by-24-foot detached garage warm, Hollander said.
Posted by Caleb Hutton
Text courtesy of the Blaine Police Department, with minor edits for style.
Wednesday, Jan. 9
7:30 a.m. A construction worker was on his way to a building site in Semiahmoo when his car died at the edge of the Parkway. A resident passing by helped the driver and his friend get the car parked legally near the entrance to one of the Semiahmoo neighborhoods. The men went on to work and the resident contacted police and the resort association so everyone would know the car was not abandoned. Officers kept an eye on it for the owner, and a couple of days later he was able to get it running again.
8:22 a.m. Blaine officers backed up a U.S. Border Patrol agent who was dispatched to a Peace Portal Drive business on a call that a man there wanted to turn himself in for a crime he committed. On arrival the gentleman explained to the agents that he was not legally in the United States and felt bad about that and wanted to confess. The agents accepted his apology and offered him a ride to their office to commemorate the event with some paperwork.
10:15 a.m. A woman came to the police department to report that her mother’s diamond earrings had been stolen sometime within the last four years. The loss was only recently discovered after her mom, an H Street resident, passed away. There are no suspects in the theft at this time. A case report was initiated, and closed pending further information.
2:55 p.m. A resident on Adelia Street contacted police as a next step in a property damage complaint against a contractor. The homeowner reported that last spring the contractor had damaged his fence while conducting work on a yard. The contractor told the resident he would fix the damage, but took no action to make repairs in the months that followed. An officer initiated a malicious mischief complaint report, and is attempting to contact the contractor to get the story from his side of the fence.
6:30 p.m. A passerby on Peace Portal Drive noticed some of a store’s valuable merchandise sitting on display outside the business’ front doors. He called police to report the display seemed peculiar since it was evening time and the business was dark, closed and locked. An officer responded to investigate, and confirmed no employees were on the premises. He transported all the items to the police station for safekeeping until the following day when the store was able to collect it.
Thursday, Jan. 10
11:59 a.m. A resident on School Drive called police to report that it appeared their home’s garage door had been tampered with in the past couple of nights. Entry had not been made but the homeowner wanted officers to be aware of the problem. All officers were advised for their patrols.
5:03 p.m. A Blaine resident contacted police, concerned that an ex-boyfriend might break in to her house on F Street. She asked for and was provided information on the actions she could take, and urged to call 911 at the moment she suspected some one was trying to get into her home. All patrol officers were advised of the lady’s request for extra patrols to her neighborhood.
7:15 p.m. Early in the evening a Blaine officer responded to the area near Sixth and A streets to assist U.S. Border Patrol Agents on a report that three people had jumped the border southbound into Blaine from Canada. The officer and an agent located the trio. They had indeed crossed illegally in to the country, and they were taken in to custody by federal authorities.
Friday, Jan. 11
7:27 a.m. The State Patrol relayed a report that a tractor trailer rig was northbound on the freeway, approaching Blaine with one of its trailer brakes on fire. A couple of minutes later a U.S. Border Patrol agent spotted the truck as it stopped in the intersection of Boblett and Yew Street, just off the truck route. The truck driver had not realized his right rear wheels were ablaze until he exited the freeway and slowed down. The flames survived the fire extinguishers which police and passersby applied to it, and fire was getting into the trailer load itself when North Whatcom Fire and Rescue arrived and extinguished the blaze. The driver pulled the damaged trailer full of nursery supplies out of the intersection to make repairs and state patrol commercial vehicle officers arrived to investigate. Border agents assisted with traffic control throughout the event.
9:34 a.m. A homeowner on Fourth Street confronted a man who trespassed onto his property and was bothering their dogs. The stranger told the resident, “I can do anything I want,” then wandered away. Police located the man a few blocks away. He appeared to be disoriented from medication he was taking, and accepted a ride back to his own home where he was turned over to an adult relative who is in contact with his physician.
Saturday, Jan. 12
4:03 p.m. A Blaine resident called police to report that while walking his leashed dog along North Harvey Road, a dog from a nearby residence ran off its property and charged at the man and his dog. The resident was able to ward off the attacking canine with a stick. This is the second offense involving the same dog, and Whatcom Humane Society animal control officers are investigating.
Sunday, Jan. 13
2:40 p.m. A resident on Peace Portal Drive was awakened by her car alarm sounding and called police. An officer arrived in the area and found her car’s right rear door open. He canvassed the area but found no suspects in the area and no other cars in the same lot were victimized. Nothing was missing from the victim’s car, and she thought she might have left her car door open, but that did not explain the alarm going off. Other car prowls were reported some blocks away later the same day.
Monday, Jan. 14
5:01 p.m. Police were dispatched to a residence on Adelia Street on a report that someone had tried to burglarize a detached garage. The arriving officer found that the crook actually did make entry, as one item that had been inside the garage was now sitting outside. Nothing else was missing. The recovered item was impounded for processing. Investigation continues.
Tuesday, Jan. 15
12:02 a.m. Police responded when 911 received a hangup from a residence on Birch Court. An officer arrived to discover that an adult brother and sister at the home had been involved in a domestic dispute. Both parties were intoxicated. The brother was determined to be the primary aggressor in this instance. He was arrested for fourth-degree domestic violence assault and booked into jail.
9:34 a.m. A concerned citizen contacted police when a seagull with an obviously broken wing dropped in to her yard. An officer placed the homeowner in contact with a wildlife rescue organization, and arrangements were made to attend to the victim.
1:43 p.m. A passing visitor to town stopped a public works employee to report having seen a cougar running south on 11th Street. Police were called and were nearby, so they were able to quickly canvas the area. No big cats were spotted. A person out walking advised that a large dog in the area was the right color to be mistaken for a cougar at a glance. No other reports were received and no wildlife was spotted by the officers during their search of the neighborhood.
9:50 p.m. A person called to report her car had been broken in to while it was parked in her employer’s parking lot on Odell Road earlier in the day. The complainant advised that her car’s door had been damaged in the break in. She was calling from home in the county, and arrangements were made to continue the investigation.
Wednesday, Jan. 16
5:37 a.m. An apartment resident called 911 to report a man yelling and pounding on neighboring apartment doors on Alder Street. The arriving officer spotted the man hanging out of a third-floor hallway window, talking to himself while watching his drool fall to the sidewalk below, where the window’s screen was lying. The officer contacted the gent, and learned that he had locked himself out of his apartment. The apartment manager let the tenant back into his home, and police contacted the man’s relatives to advise them of the behavior problems the victim was experiencing.
Posted by Caleb Hutton
Text courtesy of the Blaine Police Department, with minor edits for style.
Wednesday, Jan. 2
11:20 a.m. Officers were dispatched to a two-vehicle collision involving the U.S. Postal Service and Federal Express on Boblett Street. The drivers were not competing for the quickest delivery, but their vehicles were inadvertently competing for the same piece of the parking lot and backed in to one another. The postal service vehicle sustained damage to the left door and window and the Fed Ex vehicle sustained cosmetic damage to its rear bumper. The cost of repairs exceeded flat rate charges. A report was taken to document the incident.
4:08 p.m. An F Street resident called police to report having been harassed by two women in a nearby apartment. An officer listened to the caller’s description of the event, and tried to advise the tenant that her neighbors had not crossed the line from freedom of speech to illegality on this particular occasion. The woman interrupted the explanation by hanging up on the officer before he could complete the conversation.
Thursday, Jan. 3
12:28 p.m. An officer stopped a vehicle on Peace Portal Drive for speeding. Upon contact the motorist admitted that he shouldn’t be driving, because the Department of Licensing had sent him a letter to that effect. The officer checked, and sure enough, the driver’s privileges were suspended for an unpaid ticket. The Blaine resident was cited for speeding, failure to provide proof of insurance and driving with a suspended license. A licensed driver in the vehicle was permitted to take the wheel.
Saturday, Jan. 5
1:55 a.m. An officer assisted U.S. Border Patrol field agents who contacted a man staggering along the center line on H Street Road. He was trying to walk home after drinking more than his share of alcohol over the evening. Rather than risk the man becoming some passing motorist’s unintended hood ornament, an officer transported the inebriate home and left him in the care of his adult brother.
12:29 p.m. An officer was dispatched when store employees apprehended a shoplifter at their business in the 1700 block of H Street. The 28-year-old Bellingham resident was contacted, arrested and released with a criminal citation and court date. His pilfered stash of pepperoni and energy drinks was recovered.
1:29 p.m. Police were dispatched to a report of a domestic violence incident in progress at a house on Adelia Street. The arriving officers found the dispute was between two adult brothers and not physical, yet. The men were separated and left the residence so they could cool off.
Sunday, Jan. 6
6:49 p.m. U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the Peace Arch intercepted a Friday Harbor man in possession of prescription medication without a prescription nor associated packaging. An officer arrested, cited and released the man pending his appearance in court.
7 p.m. On a dark rainy Sunday evening an officer on patrol came upon an unattended car stopped in a roundabout on D Street. The two wheels lying on the shoulder, a failed jack lodged under the car and an axle laying on the ground suggested a failed attempt at a tire change. The officer placed flares and traffic cones to make the scene safe and the car’s two occupants arrived on foot a short time later. The officer directed their tow truck driver in for a landing by cell phone, and the vehicle was removed within 15 minutes.
7:50 p.m. A motorist called police after crashing into a light pole in the 800 block of Peace Portal Drive on a dark, rainy night. The driver was not impaired, and simply did not see the light pole as he turned off the road into a business driveway. The driver had already moved the car to a nearby auto mechanic’s shop so the road was not blocked. The city light crew which responded estimated the damage to their pole to be about $600. The front of the driver’s Saab sedan had more than $750 in damage. Neither the driver or his passenger were injured, and the event was closed with a state collision report.
Monday, Jan. 7
8:22 a.m. A Fourth Street resident called police asking that someone talk to his wife about her habit of using his bank account debit card without his permission. The officer let the lady know that her husband had called the police. He explained to both the husband and wife that Washington was a community property state and their property was assumed to belong equally to both unless they took legal action to change that.
10:37 a.m. A resident found a young man sitting on Semiahmoo Parkway looking wet and cold and a long way from home. The resident picked the man up, got him some food, gave him some money, and brought him to the police station. Officers contacted the transient’s mother, and she arranged for a bus ticket to get her son from Bellingham to her home in Puyallup. A police employee donated some warm dry clothes for the teenager to change in to, and a reserve officer transported him to the bus station in Bellingham.
By Caleb Hutton
Via police & fire scanner traffic:
Firefighters arrived on scene of a reported house fire on Burk Road at 11:40 a.m. Monday, Jan. 7, to find flames shooting from the roof of a double-wide mobile home.
More than half an hour later, An hour later, they were still battling the blaze.
The homeowner informed first responders that nobody was inside, so — at least according to early reports — it doesn’t sound like anyone was hurt.
Firefighter reports large flames coming from mobile home in 1800 blk of Burk Rd, between #Lynden & #Blaine. #Whatcom
— Bellingham Crime (@bhamcrime) January 7, 2013
Homeowner tells firefighters everyone’s out of the mobile home at Burk Rd. In “defensive” mode. So sounds like it’s going to burn. #Whatcom
— Bellingham Crime (@bhamcrime) January 7, 2013
Responders switched into “overhaul” mode at 12:22 p.m., meaning the flames were mostly under control and firefighters were looking for places — in the walls, ceiling, etc. — the fire might have spread to.
Update at 12:35 p.m. But 10 minutes later, more flames started rising through the floor, and firefighters were trying to knock down the blaze again.
An investigator was dispatched to help figure out the fire’s cause.
Update tweeted at 2:48 p.m.
Three hours, six minutes after arriving, firefighters now leaving the scene of Burk Road mobile home fire. #Whatcom
— Bellingham Crime (@bhamcrime) January 7, 2013
Here are a couple of photos of the property, borrowed from the Whatcom County assessor’s website.
And a map of where the home is.
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