Convicted felon arrested after short standoff with SWAT in Birchwood neighborhood
A short standoff with SWAT Tuesday night at a Bellingham apartment in the Birchwood neighborhood ended with a peaceful surrender and an arrest of a man with multiple previous felony convictions.
“Exceptional teamwork between WCSO (Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office) and BPD (Bellingham Police Department) got a wanted, serious criminal off the streets last night,” a Bellingham police Facebook post read Wednesday, Sept. 23.
The Bellingham police booked Juan Alberto Villarreal, 31, into Whatcom County Jail Tuesday on suspicion of unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of a stolen vehicle. Jail records show he is being held in lieu of $200,000 bail.
At approximately 12:17 p.m. Aug. 6, a Bellingham police officer was in the 3400 block of Northwest Avenue on an unrelated call, when they saw Villarreal, whom was known for previous law enforcement contacts and was wanted on a Department of Corrections warrant, walking across a field, Lt. Claudia Murphy told The Bellingham Herald in an email.
Villarreal ran away, but in the process dropped a gray and white backpack he was carrying, Murphy reported, and it contained a 20-gauge shotgun with two rounds of ammunition inside. The shotgun also reportedly had a barrel length of less than 16 inches and an overall length of less than 26 inches, making it an illegal firearm, and due to his previous felony convictions, it was illegal for Villarreal to possess a gun.
On Tuesday, sheriff’s deputies spotted Villarreal, and he again ran, according to Murphy, and he entered an apartment in the 3200 block of West Maplewood. Deputies set up a perimeter to keep an eye on the apartment and, Murphy reported, due to his criminal history, Bellingham officers called for the SWAT team to evacuate nearby apartments.
Officers called for Villarreal to exit the apartment over the loudspeaker, according to Murphy, and after several attempts, Villarreal surrendered and was placed under arrest.
Making the situation more difficult Tuesday night, Bellingham’s night shift patrol officers were responding to a report of gunshots fired at another apartment complex parking lot at the same time, according to the Facebook post. That incident occurred at 10:33 p.m. in the 700 block of West Bakerview Road, according to the Bellingham police incident log.
Witnesses reported hearing shots being fired and saw some people run away, Murphy reported, and an officer located some casings, but nothing else. No suspect information is available.
Nobody was injured in the shooting, according to the post.
According to Whatcom County Superior Court records, Villarreal has previous convictions for assault with a deadly weapon, taking a motor vehicle without permission, controlled substance violation, attempting to elude police vehicles, assault, bail jumping, escape, obstruction, possession of stolen property, burglary and theft since 2002 in Whatcom County.
