He locked a woman and her 4 kids in a motel room and unplugged the phone, police say

A 28-year-old Bellingham man, who was already awaiting trial on assault and harassment charges, is suspected of locking a woman and her four children in a North Samish Way motel room and preventing her from calling for help.

Bellingham Police booked Enoch Luke Yellow Hawk into Whatcom County Jail on suspicion of unlawful imprisonment and interfering with the reporting of domestic violence. He is being held on $150,000 bail.

According to information provided by Lt. Claudia Murphy in an email Friday to The Bellingham Herald, officers responded to the motel at 1:57 p.m. for a domestic report and spoke to the woman, who told them that Yellow Hawk had showed up at her place of work and created a scene. She was sent home from work.

After they left, Yellow Hawk continued to argue with the woman and eventually placed a chair in front of the door to their motel room, Muphy said. He reportedly did not allow anyone to leave, making threats should they try. Yellow Hawk also reportedly removed the motel phone from the wall to prevent the woman from calling for help.

The woman and her children were able to leave the room when Yellow Hawk used the bathroom the next morning, Murphy said, and she called for help. Yellow Hawk was taken into custody without incident.

According to court documents, Yellow Hawk is scheduled to face two second-degree assault charges and one for harassment in a jury trial set to begin Jan. 29 stemming from an incident last January, in which he allegedly threatened a woman and child and police with a knife, forcing officers to use Tasers on him twice.