Whatcom man reportedly swaps Mercedes for 2 Subaru, but deal includes a night in jail
A two-for-one trade of cars ended up being a bad deal for a Whatcom County man, who found out after making the swap that one of the cars he traded for had been stolen and he ended up in jail for nearly 24 hours.
The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office booked Nicholas Van Turner, 41, into Whatcom County Jail Friday, Jan. 15, on suspicion of possession of a stolen vehicle and first-degree trafficking of stolen property. Jail records show Turner was released on $20,000 bail on Tuesday, Jan. 19.
Deputies spotted the victim seated in a green Subaru Legacy parked in the roadway Jan. 7 in the 8300 block of Dolphin Way, sheriff’s office spokesperson Deb Slater told The Bellingham Herald in an email.
By the time deputies arrived at the Subaru, the victim had left the vehicle abandoned, according to Whatcom County Superior Court documents. The vehicle was seized and impounded after a drug sniff by K9 Hyde, and deputies obtained a search warrant and found the victim’s identification inside.
After the search warrant was granted, deputies noticed that the Subaru’s VIN number didn’t match the license plates on the car and discovered the car had been reported stolen out of Bellingham, court documents state.
On Jan. 14, deputies arrested the victim and booked him into Whatcom County Jail on suspicion of possession of a stolen vehicle, Slater said.
On Jan. 15, deputies interviewed the victim, according to documents, and he stated that he had gotten the Subaru and another Subaru after trading his black 1993 Mercedes 300 to Turner in exchange for the two Subaru three or four days before he was spotted by deputies.
After deputies had seized the stolen Subaru, the victim had spoken to Turner, documents state, and it was then that Turner informed him that the car had been stolen.
Deputies located Turner in the 3700 block with the victim’s Mercedes in nearby parking lot and placed him under arrest.
This story was originally published January 22, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
