A 29-year-old man was booked into jail for a hate crime offense on November 16 after allegedly breaking a window of the Northwoods Motel in downtown Blaine and telling the owner to go back to their country on November 15.
Blaine Police Department (BPD) officers were called to the Northwoods Motel, 288 D Street, for a report of a man breaking a window around 11:25 p.m. November 15. When officers arrived, they found a basketball-sized hole in one of the windows and the man nearby, BPD deputy chief Brent Greene wrote in an email to The Northern Light. They later determined the man, 29, was making noise outside of the motel and hitting the window prior to breaking it with a wooden seagull.
The motel owner informed officers that the suspect told her to “go back to your country” and “this is not your property,” according to BPD.
The man was transient and had no previous contact with the police department, Greene wrote.
BPD booked the man into Whatcom County Jail in the early morning of November 16 for a hate crime, a class C felony, based on his statements to the property owner’s race and damage to the motel. Along with the felony filed with Whatcom County Superior Court, jail booking data shows the man was charged with malicious mischief and disorderly conduct misdemeanors in Blaine Municipal Court.
As of November 18, the man remained in county jail in lieu of $500.
