He did major damage to Fairhaven Station in April. He's already out of jail.
A Bellingham man served 50 days in jail for a window-breaking rampage that caused tens of thousands of dollars in damage to the Fairhaven Station in late April.
Emmanuel Nathaniel Gonzalez, 30, was released June 1 after being sentenced to 60 days in the Whatcom County Jail for felony first-degree malicious mischief. Gonzalez, who pleaded guilty May 17, also has to pay a fine of $800 and restitution, which has yet to be determined, according to Whatcom County Superior Court records.
He was given credit for time served in jail before the conviction.
Gonzalez broke 31 windows, which varied from small to very large framed windows. All the windows have been replaced, which took six to seven weeks to complete, according to Michael Hogan, public affairs administrator for the Port of Bellingham, which owns the station. Hogan said there's some minor touch up work that still needs to be done to some of the window frames.
Hogan said the final cost hasn't been determined, but the port has already spent more than $20,000 to fix the windows. He said the port handled all the costs, but is examining the legal options for cost recovery.
He said no other vandalism or damage to the station has occurred since the incident.
Bellingham Police were called to a disturbance at the station, at 401 Harris Ave., around 10 p.m. on April 12. Witnesses reported a man smashing windows.
When officers arrived, they saw Gonzalez, who is homeless, using rocks and a manhole cover to break the windows, according to court records. Officers said Gonzalez appeared to be suffering some sort of mental health episode.
This story was originally published June 12, 2018 at 5:00 AM with the headline "He did major damage to Fairhaven Station in April. He's already out of jail.."