BELLINGHAM - A Sudden Valley man was arrested on suspicion of pointing a handgun at a pregnant woman because she was smoking a cigarette Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 12, near downtown Bellingham.
The man rolled up in a blue Dodge pickup at 12:08 p.m. in the 700 block of East Holly Street, with the passenger window down. A 28-year-old woman, who later told police she's about eight months pregnant, was walking on the sidewalk and smoking a cigarette.
According to police, the man shouted something to the effect of, "Who the heck smokes when they're pregnant?"
The woman answered, "I do."
They "exchanged words" for a bit, then the man pulled out a handgun and pointed it at her, said Bellingham police spokesman Mark Young. The man was still sitting in the truck, about 10 feet from the woman. He drove away, and the woman called 911.
A few minutes later, an officer pulled over a blue Dodge pickup near the intersection of Texas and James streets. The driver, Justin Dain Palmer, 24, admitted to confronting the woman but denied pulling out a gun, Young said.
After Palmer consented to a search of his pickup, police found two Glock semiautomatic .45-caliber handguns in the center console.
Palmer has had some minor run-ins with the law: disorderly conduct and traffic violations.
Reach Caleb Hutton at caleb.hutton@bellinghamherald.com or call 360-715-2276.
