BELLINGHAM - Two Whatcom County men were arrested after a home invasion in which five people were bound with duct tape early Tuesday, May 29, according to the Bellingham Police Department.
Bellingham Police responded to a home in the 2800 block of St. Clair Street at about 12:20 a.m., after getting a call from a man in the house who saw men in masks robbing his roommates.
The caller was in a separate part of the house and told the dispatcher that his roommates were upstairs. Authorities told the caller to leave the home by crawling out of a bedroom window, and he was able to escape.
Several police officers arrived at the home within minutes, with deputies from the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office responding to provide additional coverage. Officers saw two suspects in masks walking through the house ransacking drawers in multiple rooms. One was carrying a rifle and the other was seen pulling tape off a roll, possibly wrapping it around someone's hands.
One of the masked men left the home through the front door carrying multiple bags of suspected stolen goods; after a short chase he was arrested. During the arrest, the second suspect left the house through a back door and was ordered to the ground by officers. He ran back inside the home, and one of the officers broke a garage window and ordered the suspect out of the home at gunpoint. Once outside, he was arrested.
After the arrests, officers went inside the home and found five people bound by tape in various rooms. Three of them had minor facial injuries after being assaulted by the men.
The two men arrested were Brandon L. Keck, 20, of Bellingham, and Ananda S. Eichhorn, 35, of Blaine. They were booked into Whatcom County Jail on suspicion of first-degree burglary, first-degree robbery, first-degree kidnapping and unlawful possession of a firearm.
Eichhorn has previous convictions for first-degree robbery, possession of a stolen vehicle and second-degree malicious mischief, and he's going through court for theft, forgery and possession of stolen property charges.
Reach ZOE FRALEY at zoe.fraley@bellinghamherald.com or call 756-2803.
