Man allegedly violates anti-harassment orders and intentionally rams car in Bellingham
A Mount Vernon man reportedly violated anti-harassment court orders in Bellingham several times, including once when he intentionally rammed a car with two people inside.
The Skagit County Sheriff’s Office arrested Lee Anthony Carbajal, 50, and transferred him into the custody of the Bellingham Police Department on Friday, Oct. 2, and he was booked into Whatcom County Jail on suspicion of two counts of second-degree assault, three counts of violating anti-harassment court orders and one count of third-degree malicious mischief. Jail records show he is being held in lieu of $30,000 bail.
Bellingham officers were called at 4:47 a.m. Friday to the 2600 block of King Street for a vandalism call, after a Bellingham man found all of the tires on his car had been deflated, Lt. Claudia Murphy told The Bellingham Herald in an email.
No suspects were found at the time, Murphy reported, but the victim said he remembered a car revving its engine outside his home then saw the vehicle he recognized as Carbajal’s driving north on King Street. The victim had an anti-harassment order prohibiting Carbajal from coming within 1,000 feet of his residence.
At about the time Carbajal’s vehicle was seen driving, the victim also received two voice mails, daring him to come outside, according to Murphy. Investigating officers noted the voice on the messages sounded like Carbajal’s.
That incident followed two others from September, when:
▪ Officers were called at 3:04 p.m. Sept. 10 to the 1600 block of Texas Street for a possible anti-harassment order violation.
The investigation showed that the victim had a court order preventing Carbajal from being within 1,000 feet of the him and that Carbajal had been seen near the victim’s house, Murphy reported. Carbajal was later seen parked a short distance from the victim’s house. Carbarjal reportedly said he was waiting on a family member of his, but Murphy reported that was not true.
▪ Officers were sent at 8:21 p.m. Sept. 25 to the intersection of Texas and Pacific streets for the report of a vehicle ramming another.
Carabajal had left the area by the time officers arrived, according to Murphy, but they learned that Carbajal had threatened the victim numerous times, forcing the victim to take out an anti-harassment order against Carbajal. That order had been violated several times, Murphy reported, including on Sept. 25, when the victim was reportedly dropping off a woman at her home and both she and the victim saw Carbajal sitting outside.
Carbajal immediately drove towards the car the two victims were in, forcing them to back the car all the way out of the parking lot to get away, Murphy reported. At one point, Carbajal got out of his car, ran up and pounded his fists on the victims’ car.
The victims attempted to get away by driving toward Iowa Street, Murphy reported, but Carbajal twice rammed his car into theirs from behind, hitting it hard enough for the tires on the victims’ car to lose traction with the road. The victims told police they believed Carbajal was attempting to run them off the road, and their car had damage consistent with being rammed from behind.
Whatcom County Superior Court records show Carbajal has a previous conviction from 2015 for possession of a controlled substance.
