Police investigating if man suspected in Honey Moon burglary responsible for others
Bellingham Police arrested a transient man they suspect broke into the Honey Moon Alley Bar & Ciderhouse bar and are investigating whether he was responsible for other downtown burglaries this summer.
Micajah Nash Helie, 20, was booked into Whatcom County Jail Sept. 12, and he was charged in Whatcom County Superior Court with first-degree burglary, second-degree malicious mischief and obstructing police officers. Jail records show he was released on $100 bail Sept. 14.
At approximately 5:19 a.m. Sept. 12 a witness reported hearing glass break in the 1000 block of North State Street and told police they saw Helie emerge from the Honey Moon with a dark colored bag, Lt. Claudia Murphy told The Bellingham Herald in an email. The witness also reported seeing Helie head south toward the Interurban Trail.
Officers spotted Helie get onto the trail and told him to stop, Murphy reported, but he dropped the bag and conintued to run.
Police located Helie in the 200 block of East Laurel Street and ordered him to get on the ground, Murphy wrote. He reportedly turned and tried to get away again, but was too exhausted to go any further and was taken into custody.
During a search of Helie, officers found a knife in a sheath, Murphy reported, and a hatchet was found near the bag he dropped. The bag also reportedly contained less than $750 worth of liquor believed to be taken from the bar.
The damage done at the bar was estimated to be worth more than $750, according to Whatcom County Superior Court documents.
According to a Facebook post later Sept. 12, it was the second time Honey Moon had been broken into this summer — “More smashed glass and more stolen product,” the post read.
Honey Moon is not the only downtown bar to be broken into over the summer.
Murphy wrote “there is a possibility” that other downtown burglaries are related, but added “investigators need to keep working on that.”
Jalapeños Family Mexican Restaurant has posted to social media that it also has been broken into twice this summer and had liquor stolen, most recently in a Sept. 7 Facebook post by Jesse Cantu.
Murphy earlier confirmed to The Herald that police were investigating that Sept. 7 burglary and liquor theft, as well as one that occurred Aug. 25.
