Whatcom woman manages to escape after reportedly being kidnapped by friend of a friend
A Bellingham man is suspected of kidnapping a Whatcom County woman Friday and driving her to the Bow Hill rest area before she was able to get away into the women’s restroom and ask for help.
The Washington State Patrol booked Aaron Nash Jackson, 48, into Whatcom County Jail on suspicion of unlawful imprisonment and two counts of fourth-degree assault. Whatcom County Superior Court documents show Jackson is being held in lieu of $60,000 bail.
At approximately 6:34 p.m. Friday, Feb. 26, troopers were called to the Bow Hill rest stop along southbound Interstate 5 for the report of a woman in the restroom who did not feel comfortable riding with the man she had come to the rest area with, according to court documents.
The man, who was later identified as Jackson, left the rest stop before troopers arrived, documents state, but had been seen pacing outside the restroom while the victim was inside asking a female witness for help. Witnesses reported seeing Jackson pulling on the victim’s jacket before she went into the restroom.
Troopers gave the victim a ride to a relative’s home in Skagit County, and asked the victim to provide a written statement on the incident. According to court documents, it said:
▪ The victim was walking along North Red River Road to the Silver Reef Casino when Jackson’s truck pulled up to drop off a friend of the victim. The friend got out, spoke to the victim and left. Jackson introduced himself and offered to give the victim a ride to the casino, and as Jackson was a friend of a friend, the victim accepted.
▪ Rather than go to the casino, Jackson turned onto Slater Road, and the victim said she began to panic. Jackson began driving faster, acting as if he knew the victim and turned the radio up so loud that the victim couldn’t be heard as he continued to drive on Slater Road toward Bellingham.
▪ The victim said she began yelling at Jackson, even though she didn’t think Jackson would be able to hear her over the music, and waved her hands to get him to stop, but he didn’t. Jackson also blocked her attempt to turn down the music, grabbed her leg and told her everything was going to be OK.
▪ Jackson drove the truck southbound on Interstate 5, despite protests from the victim. He reportedly told the victim they were running away, that he was never going to bring her back to the Lummi [reservation] and that the victim’s friends and family at Lummi were not going to see her anymore. Jackson also reportedly kept pulling at the victim’s jacket in an effort to pull her closer to him.
▪ The victim eventually noticed the sign for the rest stop and said she needed to use the restroom. Jackson stopped the truck, but reportedly reached over and pinched the victim’s inner thigh, squeezed her leg and again pulled at her jacket. The victim was able to pull away and got to the women’s restroom, where she asked a woman inside for help. While she was in the restroom, Jackson reportedly opened the restroom door several times and shouted the victim’s name.
Jackson was arrested by Bellingham Police early Saturday after another incident when officers were called at 1:36 a.m. to a hotel in the 100 block of North Samish Way when an employee reported being assaulted by Jackson, Lt. Claudia Murphy told The Bellingham Herald in an email.
Officers learned that the employee saw Jackson pull into the hotel’s parking lot and start knocking on room doors, Murphy reported. When the employee confronted him and asked him to leave, Jackson reportedly became confrontational and hit the employee in the hand and cheek with a closed pocket knife.
Jackson was later contacted at a hotel in the 3700 block of Meridian Street after he called 911, Murphy reported. He was cited for the assault at the Samish Way hotel and arrested on the State Patrol’s probable cause from Friday’s alleged kidnapping.
