Ferndale men allegedly lost 2 stolen dryers off their truck as they tried to get away
A Bellingham police dog tracked down two Ferndale men who tried to run away on foot after they were stopped for reportedly stealing more than $3,500 worth of washers and dryers from Dewaard & Bode last weekend.
Johnathan Ray Weidenaar, 38, and Antonio Silva Sr., 60, were booked Saturday, Feb. 15, into Whatcom County Jail on suspicion of malicious mischief, burglary and theft, and jail records show each is being held in lieu of $10,000 bail.
According to Whatcom County Superior Court documents:
▪ Police were notified at 4:25 a.m. Saturday by a witness who watched two men break into the store. The witness also reported seeing multiple washers and dryers in the back of their truck as they drove away.
▪ The citizen followed the truck northbound on Hannegan Road and turn east on Van Wyck Road, where two appliances fell or were pushed off the back of the truck as it continued.
▪ Police located the truck on Dewey Road. Once Weidenaar and Silva saw the officers, they stopped the truck and ran from the vehicle, leaving two washers in the back of the truck. A K-9 team was brought in to track the pair and located both.
▪ Officers found two new LG washers in the truck that were worth $849 each. Two new Electrolux dryers, each worth $925, were recovered from the side of Van Wyck Road. Both were damaged.
▪ Police also found that a cargo storage container behind Dewaard & Bode had been broken into, causing approximately $300 worth of damage to the container door. A store employee confirmed the washers and dryers had been stored in the container.
▪ Total damages to the container and the dryers that fell off the truck was estimated to be $1,850, while the value of the stolen appliances was $3,548.
Court records show Weidenaar has a previous theft conviction from 2007 in Whatcom County, while Silva has previous Whatcom County convictions for possession of controlled substance and malicious mischief since 2015.
