POSTED: Saturday, Dec. 05, 2009

Bellingham police arrest Arkansas parolee day after Gregoire announcement

BELLINGHAM - Bellingham Police officers arrested a parolee who had a warrant for his arrest out of Arkansas after a 20-minute chase on the Interurban Trail Thursday afternoon, Dec. 3.

The arrest came one day after Gov. Chris Gregoire's statement that Washington state will no longer accept criminals on parole out of Arkansas due to the alleged actions of Maurice Clemmons, an Arkansas parolee who is believed to have shot and killed four Lakewood police officers Nov. 29.

The governor's statement will not affect how the Whatcom County Prosecutor's Office handles the case of Danny Lee Carter, 36, said County Prosecutor Dave McEachran.

"Governor Gregoire said (Washington) would not be accepting any parolees from Arkansas," McEachran said. "I think she would be delighted that we are sending someone back there."

McEachran said Arkansas law enforcement officials indicated they were interested in extraditing Carter. If Arkansas decides against extraditing him, McEachran said Carter would be tried on the charges he is being held for in the Whatcom County Jail.

Gregoire's statement focused on temporarily stopping Arkansas parolees from moving to Washington and continuing their supervision here under the state Department of Corrections, governor's spokesman Glenn Kuper said.

"This isn't a permanent situation," Kuper said. "She's just stopping it for the moment until she works out things with Arkansas."

Carter was not on Washington state DOC supervision, according to a check of the agency's databases, spokesman Chad Lewis said.

The foot chase on the Interurban Trail began shortly after police responded to a report of a suspicious person at about 3:45 p.m. in the 2600 block of Nevada Street. Officers arrived and saw Carter sitting in a Dodge Durango next to another vehicle with a broken window, said Mark Young, Bellingham Police Department spokesman.

Upon seeing the officer, Carter drove down the street and pulled over in front of a house. The officer followed Carter, who avoided eye contact with the officer while walking onto a porch of a nearby house, Young said.

The officer began asking Carter questions, to which he responded with vague answers, Young said. After running his name, the officer discovered Carter had an outstanding warrant in Whatcom County for failure to appear for obstructing a law enforcement officer, Young said.

When the officer attempted to arrest Carter, he took off down the Interurban Trail, Young said.

With assistance from several other police officers, the officer chased Carter for almost 20 minutes before taking him into custody, Young said.

Officers quickly discovered Carter also had a warrant from Arkansas for residential burglary, Young said.

"It doesn't change anything on our end," Young said. "It is Arkansas' decision whether they are going to extradite him or not."

It was unclear if Carter is a Bellingham resident, as he did not give officers a full Bellingham address. He was being held Friday in the Whatcom County Jail on suspicion of third-degree driving with a suspended license, obstructing a law enforcement officer and failure to appear on the latter charge.