Convicted arsonist suspected in another fire at Bellingham Walmart and escape from ER
A Bellingham convicted arsonist is back in jail after he allegedly lit a fire at a Walmart check stand and pepper sprayed two employees during a shoplifting incident Friday, March 5, then escaped from custody Tuesday during a medical evaluation at the hospital.
A tweet by the Bellingham Police Department at 8:43 p.m. Tuesday, March 9, confirmed that Craig Stuart Wise, 56, was back in custody.
A tweet four hours earlier at 4:37 p.m. said that Wise had escaped from the St. Joseph hospital emergency department during a medical evaluation while still wearing green scrubs and no shoes.
Wise is currently in Whatcom County Jail on suspicion of first-degree arson, first-degree robbery and third-degree escape, and jail records show he is being held in lieu of $40,000 bail.
Wise was sentenced to 27 months in prison and 18 months probation on May 7, 2019, after he was convicted of first-degree arson for setting fire in 2018 to the building that housed Blue Sea Systems in Bellingham’s Cordata neighborhood. The intentionally set fire was estimated to have caused approximately $5 million in damage, though nobody was hurt.
Wise also was ordered to pay back $3.53 million for the damage he caused.
Included in Wise’s plea agreement was the dismissal of second-degree arson charges from a separate fire that Wise is believed to have started only days before at a warehouse near the Haskell Business Center.
In the latest incident, Bellingham Police officers responded at approximately 10 a.m. Friday to Walmart for a robbery call, according to Whatcom County Superior Court documents, after a witness reported seeing a man, later identified as Wise, steal a Lenovo tablet device from the front of the store.
The store’s loss prevention staff confronted Wise as he attempted to exit, documents state, but Wise sprayed two female employees with a pepper spray substance. He then reported left the store with the merchandise.
A witness followed Wise until police were able to take him into custody.
Police later learned that while in the check stand, Wise started an object on fire, presumably as a diversionary tactic, according to court documents, and then attempted to exit.
The two employees were treated by the Bellingham Fire Department for their exposure to the pepper spray.
At approximately 9:30 p.m. Monday, Wise was granted a temporary release from the jail for medical reason, Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Deb Slater told The Bellingham Herald in an email, and he was told to return to the jail once his treatment was complete.
But at approximately 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wise left the hospital and did not return to the jail, Slater reported.
Bellingham Police were notified of Wise’s escape and began looking for him, Lt. Claudia Murphy reported. A K-9 track proved unsuccessful, but police were called later Tuesday evening when Wise attempted to check into the Base Camp homeless shelter operated by Lighthouse Mission Ministries. He was picked up there and taken back to jail.
This story was originally published March 10, 2021 at 8:39 AM.
