Pair allegedly stole two chainsaws from a Bellingham store, then returned a night later
Bellingham police have arrested one of two people suspected of breaking into Hardware Sales on back-to-back nights last week, causing an estimated $1,750 in damage to the Sunnyland neighborhood store and stealing nearly $4,400 in merchandise.
Sabrina Diana Ramos, 30, was booked into Whatcom County Jail Monday, Nov. 23, on suspicion of two counts each of second-degree malicious mischief and second-degree burglary and one count of second-degree theft, and jail records show she is being held in lieu of $100 bail.
Police are still seeking Lincoln Allred for his alleged role in the burglaries, Lt. Claudia Murphy told The Bellingham Herald in an email.
At approximately 3:58 a.m. Friday, Nov. 20, a couple, believed to be Allred and Ramos, were seen outside Hardware Sales, according to Whatcom County Superior Court documents, when Allred picked up an object and threw it through the front glass door, causing an estimated $750 in damage. Allred then reportedly entered the store, took two chainsaws worth approximately $810 and handed them to Ramos, who put them in a cart she was holding, and they left together.
A night later at approximately 4:18 a.m., police responded to an alarm at Hardware Sales, documents show, and officers found a shattered glass door to the business.
A loss prevention officer for the store checked security footage from inside the store, and it showed a man, believed to be Allred, throw a rock through the door, causing approximately $1,000 damage and enter the store, documents state. Allred then reportedly handed items worth approximately $3,575 to a woman, believed to be Ramos, to put in a red shopping cart covered with a blue tarp.
As police were arriving on scene, they spoke to Allred and Ramos in an alley behind the nearby Les Schwab Tire Center, but didn’t know the pair allegedly had committed the crime, documents state. Officers returned to the alley and found the stolen merchandise abandoned in the shopping cart.
Police spotted Ramos at approximately 12:08 a.m. Monday walking through the Walgreens parking lot on East Sunset Drive and recognized that she was wearing the same clothing she was seen wearing during the burglaries, Murphy told The Herald. After speaking to officers, Ramos reportedly admitted to her role in the burglaries.
