Woman arrested after allegedly stealing whale-watching boat from Bellingham harbor
A 48-year-old woman was arrested last week after she allegedly stole a whale-watching boat from Squalicum Harbor and crashed it into another boat before hopping onto several more boats looking for wine and the man she planned to marry.
LaDonna Lynn Gifford was arrested Dec. 23 on suspicion of hit and run of an unattended vehicle, operating a vessel under the influence, first-degree vehicle prowl and theft of a motor vehicle.
Gifford was released on her personal recognizance at her first appearance Dec. 24 in Whatcom County Superior Court. Her arraignment is scheduled for Jan. 3, 2020.
Shortly before 10 p.m. on Dec. 23, Bellingham police responded to Squalicum Harbor on Coho Way for a boating problem. When officers arrived, they were told a boat belonging to San Juan Safaris was taken without permission from a gate, according to Bellingham Police Lt. Claudia Murphy.
The boat struck another boat and was then abandoned at a different gate, idling and unsecured, Murphy said. A witness told officers that two people, a man and a woman, jumped off the whale-watching boat and ran away, Murphy said.
One of the suspects, later identified as Gifford, was seen on three other boats in the marina, none of which belonged to her, Murphy said. Officers found Gifford on the fifth boat she had allegedly unlawfully entered and she was taken into custody without incident, Murphy said.
After being read her rights, Gifford told an officer that “she was looking for the man she would marry,” according to court records. Gifford admitted she took the whale-watching boat and hit the boat in front of her, the records state. Gifford said she was trying to leave the harbor, but didn’t know her way around and got lost so she parked the boat and hopped off, the records show.
Gifford then hopped onto at least three other boats to hide from security and to look for wine, the records state.
Brian Goodremont, owner and captain of San Juan Safaris, told The Bellingham Herald he received a call from the police around 11 p.m. that night about someone breaking into his boat.
Goodremont said every year all three of his vessels go to the harbor in Bellingham to receive engine tune-ups and maintenance during the off-season in December and January. San Juan Safaris runs whale and wildlife tours February through November around the San Juan area, he said.
Goodremont said he was unsure how much total damage was done to his boat, but he expected it to be in the thousands.
“I’m thankful it’s just a boat, and even more thankful to find out there wasn’t irreparable damage,” Goodremont said.
He said that if the boat had been totaled, he wouldn’t have been able to replace it in time for tours.
“I’m grateful my boat was not run aground or worse,” he said. “Overall it’s just kind of a strange incident.”
Over the past five years, several boats have been stolen from Squalicum Harbor, but theft from Port-owned harbors doesn’t occur on a regular basis, said Mike Hogan, a spokesperson for the Port of Bellingham, which owns Squalicum Harbor.
Hogan said to help prevent theft, the Port has 24-hour security patrols and the entire harbor is under video surveillance. He said there are also more than 100 “liveaboard” boaters who report suspicious activity.
“In this case, it was a crime of opportunity by perpetrators who wanted to go for a joyride while intoxicated,” Hogan said. “A liveaboard boater notified security of the incident, which led to an arrest.”
Hogan said in addition the damage to the whale-watching vessel, the boat it collided with also sustained moderate damage and that a cleat was ripped off the dock.
This story was originally published December 31, 2019 at 9:45 AM.
