Bellingham man allegedly uses dentist office’s account to fraudulently order 3 laptops
A Bellingham man is suspected of fraudulently ordering three laptop computers worth nearly $9,000 on an account used by a Blaine dental office and having them shipped to a homeless youth center he was staying at in Coupeville.
The Blaine Police Department booked Aaron Wayne Julian, 19, into Whatcom County Jail on suspicion of first-degree identity theft, first- and second-degree theft and second-degree computer trespassing.
Officers were notified of a fraud complaint from the dental office on Nov. 10, when a dental assistant noticed that three Microsoft Surface laptop computers, each costing $2,911.22, had been ordered on an account the office has with a medical supplier, according to the probable cause statement emailed to The Bellingham Herald by spokesperson Tami Bhachu. Two of the computers were reportedly ordered Nov. 7 and the third on Nov. 9.
The dental assistant reported that nobody from the office had ordered the computers, the statement said, but they found that the order had been placed by Julian and that they were to be shipped to the homeless youth center in Coupeville, which is where he was staying at the time. The dental assistant also found that Julian had reportedly used a credit card belonging to one of the office’s dentists.
The medical supply company was able to cancel and stop shipment of two of the computers after being contacted by the dental assistant, but the third supply company was unsure if the third had shipped already.
Officers contacted the youth center and found that Julian did not have access to a computer with internet access at the center and instead used his phone, according to the statement.
Blaine police contacted the Island County Sheriff Department and asked them to arrest Julian and seize his phone.
Whatcom County Superior Court records show Julian is awaiting a Feb. 1 trial on theft of a motor vehicle and unlawful issuance of a bank check charges after he allegedly twice wrote checks from a closed bank account to a Bellingham car dealer to purchase a 2004 Subaru Forester and a 2003 Ford Windstar in late July.
Julian also was sentenced Sept. 24 to 364 days of work release after he pleaded guilty to harassment and displaying weapons capable of producing harm charges for sending threatening text messages and showing a folding knife and threatening to kill a husband and wife on Aug. 22 outside a Bellingham motel, court records show.
