Deputies search for man who threatened to shoot a woman and steal her car at casino
The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office is searching for a man they believe assaulted a woman, threatened to shoot her and attempted to steal her car Sunday evening in parking lot of the Silver Reef Casino.
According to information provided by Chief Deputy Kevin Hester in an email Monday to The Bellingham Herald, a woman was leaving the casino and walking to her car in the parking lot at approximately 8:16 p.m., and as she was unlocking her car using the key fob and opening the car door, someone hit her on the shoulder. She turned around to find a man that she didn’t know standing about two inches from her.
He allegedly demanded she give him her car and grabbed her hand and keys. A struggle ensued, and the man reportedly said, “I’m gonna shoot you. I will shoot you.”
The man reached into his front right coat pocket, Hester said, and the woman saw the outline of a hard, L-shaped object she believed to be a gun, though the man never pulled a weapon out of his pocket.
The woman reportedly pushed the man “as hard as she could” and broke free, knocking herself down in the process. The woman told deputies that the man stared at her and then reached into his jacket pocket, making her think he was going to shoot her. She managed to get up and run to the casino for help.
The incident was captured on the casino’s security surveillance system, Hester said.
This story was originally published December 11, 2018 at 12:00 AM.
