An armored vehicle and crisis negotiators responded to a Blaine motel after a 41-year-old man allegedly threatened to kill onlookers and a Blaine Police Department (BPD) officer on July 20.
BPD officers were dispatched at 7:32 p.m. for a traffic hazard in the 1300 block of Peace Portal Drive after receiving reports of a shirtless man blocking traffic and yelling at several residents.
When officers arrived, the man was described in a BPD social media post as “mumbling loudly” toward onlookers and appearing to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
However, the police did not initially have evidence that a crime occurred, and an officer watched the man run across the street into a nearby motel room.
Multiple witnesses told police the man threatened to kill
people in a nearby condominium building after they told him to leave the property. One of those victims reported the suspect stated he was going to kill the victim before chasing him, causing the victim to pick up a large rock in self-defense, according to BPD.
Blaine police requested U.S. Border Patrol agents and Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office deputies assist in the arrest. Sporadically leaving his room, the man told law enforcement he had guns in his residence, and threatened to kill a specific BPD officer on scene, according to BPD.
While outside of his room, law enforcement used less-lethal rounds on the suspect before he ran back into his room.
The Bellingham Police Department was requested to bring an armored vehicle and crisis negotiators, as it was unknown whether the man had firearms in his possession. After crisis negotiators contacted him, the man exited his room without any weapons and was arrested by two nearby sheriff’s deputies who were evacuating neighboring rooms.
The man was booked into Whatcom County Jail on two counts of felony harassment and one count of resisting arrest. He is being held in lieu of a $25,000 bond, and his arraignment is scheduled for Friday, August 1.
