Two men reportedly brought 3 guns and a machete to a Bellingham home to collect a debt
Two men allegedly yelled and brandished multiple guns and a machete Friday afternoon outside a Roosevelt neighborhood home in an effort to collect money they said they were owed.
Bellingham police booked Eugene Joseph Calabrese, 37, into Whatcom County Jail Dec. 4 on suspicion of unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of unlawful firearms and exhibiting a weapon. Darren Andrew Nixon, 33, was booked on suspicion of unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of a controlled substance. Jail records show Calabrese was released Sunday on $20,000 bail, while Nixon is still being held in lieu of $15,000 bail.
Officers were called at 2:03 p.m. Friday to the 2800 block of Orleans Street after a victim reported there were two men outside his home with guns yelling, Lt. Claudia Murphy told The Bellingham Herald in an email.
A second victim reported that she heard Calabrese outside yelling behind her house, Murphy reported, and she saw Calabrese holding a gun at his side.
Calabrese reportedly raised the run and pointed at the second victim and yelled a man’s name, as if he were looking for the person, according to Murphy, before lowering the gun and raising a second in his other hand.
Nixon, who brought a reportedly machete, knocked on the door to the house, Murphy reported.
Calabrese and Nixon then got into an orange Chevrolet Avalanche and left with Calabrese driving, according to Murphy, before officers spotted the truck and executed a high-risk stop on the Sunset Drive overpass over Interstate 5.
Calabrese and Nixon were arrested, Murphy reported, and told officers they had been trying to collect money from the first victim for guns they had previously given him.
In the truck, Murphy reported officers found three guns in plain view — an AR-15-style rifle, a hand gun and a shotgun. The rifle and shotgun reportedly were both shorter than state law allows, and both Calabrese and Nixon have previous convictions, Murphy reported, making it illegal for them to possess firearms.
