Tag: robbery
By Caleb Hutton
A 16-year-old boy told Bellingham police he was robbed of cash by two armed men over the weekend.
The boy claimed he was walking at 1 p.m. Friday, Jan. 11, in the 4100 block of Cordata Parkway, when two men approached him and demanded cash, said Bellingham police spokesman Mark Young. The men’s faces were covered. One suspect flashed a weapon, possibly a gun, so the boy handed over his money.
A family member prodded him to report the crime to police, Young said. He called 911 the next day, describing both assailants as 5-foot-8 black men with a thin to medium build.
Victims of crimes should call police as soon as possible, Young added.
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In other robbery news, at the time of this posting, police have yet to track down the victim of a possible mugging at a Ferry Avenue apartment complex late Friday.
Here’s the nut graph of the story that ran in Sunday’s paper.
A resident living on the 3000 block of Ferry Avenue, off Bill McDonald Parkway, called 911 around 10:30 p.m. saying he may have witnessed a robbery while looking out of his third-story window, said Sgt. Dave Richards. The caller said he heard someone say “don’t take my phone” and saw three black males confronting a white male in the parking lot. The caller said he thought one of the black males was wearing a white mask and pointed a handgun at the victim.
The Bellingham Police Department, including a K-9 unit, responded to search for the suspects, but didn’t find anyone, including the victim.
Western Washington University issued a pair of campus alerts while police searched for the suspects.
By Caleb Hutton
A Bellingham man was arrested Christmas Eve on suspicion of carjacking an acquaintance.
Below is the gist of the police report. Everything in the box came from Bellingham police spokesman Mark Young. It’s all been paraphrased and condensed.
The 50-year-old victim, from Maple Valley, had been “hanging out” with three people in Bellingham for most of Christmas Eve.
At 3 p.m. he reported a passenger in his 2002 PT Cruiser grabbed the keys from him and said he would need to fight to get them back. The driver felt threatened and got out of the car in the 1800 block of Cornwall Avenue.
The carjacker — identified as Steven D. Wages, 48, of Bellingham — allegedly hopped into the driver’s seat and drove away. The suspect hit a curb, flattening a tire, at some point in the drive.
Police found the car at Gladstone and Lincoln streets. Wages was booked into jail on suspicion of second-degree robbery, theft of a motor vehicle and driving under the influence. Officers chose not to arrest the two passengers.
By Caleb Hutton
From Bellingham police spokesman Mark Young:
In reference to this post, the skateboard is a black Zero board with a grim reaper and a sticker on the bottom. It has orange wheels.
So if it shows up in a pawn shop, or if you see it on the street, call Bellingham police at 360-778-8800. After hours, call 911.
No additional reports were filed in the past 24 hours, so Young couldn’t provide any further description of the suspects.
By Caleb Hutton
A Bellingham man was robbed of his wallet and skateboard late Monday, Dec. 3, after a group of four people beat him on East Holly Street, police said.
The 27-year-old man was riding in the 500 block of East Holly when a group of people — two men and two women in their late teens or early 20s — stopped him to ask if he had any money, said Bellingham police spokesman Mark Young.
He told them no, argued with them for a bit, and then tried to ride away. They stopped him and beat him, taking his wallet and skateboard in the scuffle, Young said.
No weapons were used. The man’s injuries were minor, according to police.
Few details were available about the suspects, aside from the rough estimate of their ages. A detective is following up on the case, and hopefully will get better descriptions of the suspects from the victim. As of the latest report, police had not spoken to any eyewitnesses, Young said.
As a policy, Bellingham police don’t say how cash robbers got away with.
If you have any tips, call the Bellingham Police Department at 360-778-8800. After hours, call 911.
By Caleb Hutton
Bellingham police recovered a gun from the wheel of a car parked at a dealership late Thursday, Nov. 29 — a possible clue in the robbery of a Blue Cab driver and his van earlier in the week.
Here’s the story we ran about the robbery.
An employee of Roger Jobs Motors, the dealership where the cab was ditched, found a gun sitting on top of a parked vehicle’s wheel, behind the wheel well, late Thursday, said Bellingham police spokesman Mark Young. It was wrapped in a piece of clothing.
Young declined to identify the caliber of the handgun, what kind of clothing it was in and the model of the car.
Police are checking for fingerprints. They had searched the dealership with police dogs on the night of the robbery, but the search came up cold.
By Caleb Hutton
BELLINGHAM — A Bellingham man was robbed of cash by a panhandler, who then defended his spoils with a wooden stick Friday afternoon, Nov. 24, police said.
The victim, 50, had met the man earlier that day when they had a brief conversation on the bus, said Bellingham police spokesman Mark Young. The men didn’t exchange names. They crossed paths again about 4 p.m. in the 2800 block of Patton Street.
The victim was riding a bike. The suspect — a black man in his 40s with a heavy build and a distinctive cyst on his face – approached him and asked if he had any spare cash. The man offered to give him a couple bucks and pulled out his wallet. That’s when the suspect swiped a handful of bills from him, Young said.
The victim chased the culprit through a few yards and, at one point, caught up to him, according to police. The suspect picked up a wooden stick from a yard and wielded it as a makeshift weapon.
“I don’t have a description of the stick,” Young said.
It was enough of a threat, however, for the victim to call off the chase. Instead he phoned police to report the robbery. He said the suspect wore a black baseball cap, a royal blue or black coat and dark pants.
Citing police department policy, Young declined to say how much cash was taken. The wallet wasn’t stolen.
By Caleb Hutton
BELLINGHAM — A 38-year-old man was beaten and robbed of his wallet after he shouted derogatory names at a group of people Monday night, Nov. 19, outside the Horseshoe Cafe in downtown Bellingham.
According to Bellingham police spokesman Mark Young:
The man was walking at 7:20 p.m. in the 100 block of East Holly Street — “heavily intoxicated” — when he started berating a group of five or six people in their 20s standing on the sidewalk, using strong language about their alleged homelessness. (Police weren’t sure if the people are actually homeless.)
The group attacked the man. In the fray, somebody took his wallet with a “minimal” amount of cash inside. The victim was taken to the hospital. An officer reported it wasn’t clear if the ambulance took him “because of his injuries or his high level of intoxication.”
A witness gave police a rough description of the suspects, and officers contacted a group resembling that description. The man’s unwillingness to talk with police, however, has thrown a wrench in efforts to make any arrests.
The man didn’t know anyone in the group.
By Caleb Hutton
BELLINGHAM — A cab ride turned into a robbery early Thursday, Nov. 15, when a passenger swore and screamed at the driver, then took her cell phone as she called 911, according to the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office.
The driver picked up Matthew Alan Bentley, 26, from a downtown Bellingham bar about 12:30 a.m. Thursday, said Sgt. Larry Flynn. His destination was on Marine Drive.
During the ride, Bentley’s “unruly” behavior unnerved the driver: He was screaming, swearing and threatening her, Flynn said. The woman cut the route short and drove toward a convenience store along Bennett Drive, where people might be at that time of night, and called 911.
Bentley snatched the phone from her, Flynn said. The frightened woman thought he was going to strike her with it. She honked her horn at a passing state trooper, then ran out of the cab. The man ran out too.
The suspect tumbled over a guard rail, into an embankment full of blackberry bushes. He was still holding the cell phone, with the open line still audible at the 911 dispatch center.
Deputies arrested Bentley at gunpoint. He was booked into jail on suspicion of second-degree robbery and third-degree assault. The assault was a felony because the woman was driving a cab at the time.
The phone was recovered from the bushes and returned to the victim.
Bentley has felonies on his court record for theft and possession of more than 40 grams of marijuana.
By Caleb Hutton
BELLINGHAM — A man brandished a butcher knife at a cashier after shoplifting an 18-pack of cheap beer from a downtown Bellingham gas station Monday afternoon, Nov. 12.
At the time of this post, he’s still at-large.
Chris Hunt, a cashier at the Shell station on East Holly Street, said two men in their 20s walked into the store about 1:45 p.m. and made a beeline for the beer section. The taller man grabbed an 18-pack of Icehouse beer and ran for the door, handing it off to his buddy as they tried to get away.
The tall man got onto a skateboard and rode west on Holly. Hunt caught up with him about a half a block down the street. When he got within arm’s reach, Hunt said, the man pulled out a knife with a blade about a foot long and waved it at him.
“I’m not sure if it was real or not,” Hunt said. “But it looked real enough right then.”
He backed off. But a passing driver saw what was happening and tried to follow the culprits. They were last seen heading into an alley behind the Copper Hog, 1327 N. State St. The skateboarder crashed at some point in his getaway, so he may have visible injuries.
Hunt described the tall man as 6-foot-2, with blond hair, a black hat, a white hoodie and a distinctive scar on his lower lip. The cashier, who has worked there for about three years, recognized the tall man as someone who comes in every so often — and often makes a nuisance out of himself, he said. The shorter man was about 5-foot-10, with red hair and a greenish jacket.
Police didn’t have their reports finished at the time of this post — and were still actively searching for the suspects — so they weren’t able to pass along any info this afternoon. We’ll put something in print if the cops confirm the details.
The gas station has a few security cameras, so if police obtained footage, we’ll try to get some images out there if they’re available.
Anybody with tips should call the Bellingham Police Department at 360-778-8800. After hours, call 911.
Beer shoplifters pull butcher knife on Shell gas station employee at 415 E Holly St. in #Bellingham. Suspect description to follow.
— Bellingham Crime (@bhamcrime) November 12, 2012
Both white men in their 20s, w/skateboards. One is 6’2″, white sweatshirt, jeans, scar on lip. Man w/knife is 5’10″, red hair. #bellingham
— Bellingham Crime (@bhamcrime) November 12, 2012
(By Hunt’s account, I must have gotten that backwards.)
(Cont.) They were last seen in an alley by the Copper Hog. #bellingham
— Bellingham Crime (@bhamcrime) November 12, 2012
#policescanner: Referencing Shell shoplift suspects, “the one kid w/the skateboard bit it pretty good,” so he may have significant injuries.
— Bellingham Crime (@bhamcrime) November 12, 2012
By Caleb Hutton
BELLINGHAM — A purse-snatcher on East Maple Street robbed a couple as they walked home from the bars early Saturday, Oct. 27, police said.
A woman, 32, and her boyfriend, 29, were walking home at 2:35 a.m. in the 600 block of East Maple when they turned down a back alley to take a shortcut.
A man sneaked up on them from behind, grabbed the woman’s purse and ran off, said Bellingham police spokesman Mark Young.
Officers noted the couple was “extremely intoxicated,” so they weren’t able to give a good description of the suspect, Young said. They were certain the robber was a man. But they couldn’t describe his height, weight, age, race, hair, clothes or anything else about him.
He was last seen westbound on East Maple, and may have turned north onto North Garden Street.
Anybody in the area who saw something suspicious should contact the Bellingham Police Department at 360-778-8800. After hours, call 911.
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