Two victims reportedly attacked in Bellingham home by two men armed with bat and hammer
A Ferndale man has been arrested and Bellingham police are searching for another they suspect broke into a Cordata neighborhood home armed with a bat and a hammer, assaulted the residents, rummaged through a room and ran off on Wednesday.
Ferndale police booked Petr Ruslanovich Hrypchuk, 24, into Whatcom County Jail Friday, Feb. 7, on suspicion of first-degree burglary, attempted first-degree robbery and second-degree assault. Jail records show he also was booked on two DUI warrants and two second-degree driving while licensed suspended warrants.
At approximately 2:38 a.m. Wednesday, Bellingham police were called to the 5800 block of Pacific Rim Way for the report of two suspects entering a home and assaulting the residents, Lt. Claudia Murphy told The Bellingham Herald in an email. Both suspects had fled when officers arrived.
The investigation showed that the two victims were at the home when Hrypchuk came by to visit, and Murphy wrote that Hrypchuk and one of the victims went outside to smoke.
While they were there, a second, unknown man dressed in black with a ski mask and carrying a bat approached and went inside, Murphy reported. Hrypchuk, who now had a hammer, also went inside.
One of the victims was pushed into a backroom and was struck in the head with one of the weapons, Murphy reported, and the men then began to assault the other victim, hitting him repeatedly with the bat and the hammer.
One of the victims told police that it appeared Hrypchuk was looking for something in the living room but did not appear to find it, and nothing was reported missing.
The victim told Hrypchuk and the other suspect that the police had been called, and Murphy wrote that they left the home.
One of the victims sustained a cut to his forehead, a bruised calf, a chipped tooth and another tooth knocked out, while the second received a bump to the back of his head, Murphy reported.
Ferndale police located Hrypchuk early Friday and arrested him.
