Bellingham police investigate weekend string of downtown storefront window smashings
Bellingham police are investigating a string of vandalism reports from downtown businesses that had storefront windows broken out late Friday or early Saturday.
In all, nine reports were filed by business owners totaling nearly $13,000 in damage, Lt. Claudia Murphy told The Bellingham Herald in an email.
The department’s incident log showed eight of the nine malicious mischief incidents were reported before 6:30 a.m. July 25.
“Officers are working to see if a suspect can be identified,” Murphy wrote.
Murphy wrote that reports were filed in the following blocks:
▪ 1300 block of Railroad Avenue — two reports totaling $3,500 damage.
▪ 200 block of East Holly Street — one report for $4,000 damage.
▪ 300 block of East Holly Street — one report for $1,500 damage.
▪ 100 block of East Magnolia Street — one report for $1,000 damage.
▪ 1200 block of North State Street — one report for $750 damage.
▪ 1300 block of North State Street — three reports totaling $2,9750 damage.
Murphy did not list which businesses were victimized, but some have taken to social media.
“This won’t keep us down, we will march on,” read a Saturday Facebook post by Simmering Tava. “We are open as usual and working on figuring out police reports, repairs and such!”
Sweet Art also took to Facebook Sunday to say it had been victimized by a “bad group.”
In response to the incidents, a gofundme.com page — “Fix Bham Business’s Windows” — was started Monday by Jacquelyn Hopper. The campaign raised nearly $450 from nine donors and had been shared 32 times in the first day.
Hopper wrote that she had reached out to the affected businesses, and so far Sweet Art, Simmering Tava and Gathering Glass Art had accepted her invitation for help.
“All these local shops are doing their best to stay afloat during this pandemic. Donating to help replace these windows is the least we can do to help downtown stay alive,” Hopper wrote in the post.
The downtown businesses weren’t the only ones victimized over the weekend, though.
Portal Way Farm and Garden in Ferndale posted on Facebook that somebody shot the right front door of the business three times at approximately 1:25 a.m. Sunday morning, and that at 3:37 a.m. Monday vandals returned and shot the left front door and a picture window. Both incidents were reported to the Ferndale Police Department, the post read.
“We’re a small mom & pop business, local to the community for over 30 years. We’re proud supporters our community,” Portal Way Farm and Garden posted. “It’s just devastating to see our store vandalized.”
