Whatcom mountain biker reportedly stabbed in trail right-of-way dispute with hiker
A right-of-way dispute on a Whatcom County trail between a group of hikers and a mountain biker led to one man being airlifted to Seattle with stab injuries, a Bellingham man arrested on suspicion of assault and proof that there were two very different sides to the story.
After more than two weeks of investigation, the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office booked Dake Hartman Traphagen, 69, into Whatcom County Jail Tuesday, March 23, on suspicion of first-degree assault and possession of a dangerous weapon.
On the afternoon of March 6, deputies were called to the 3500 block of Y Road for the report of a fight between a hiker and a mountain biker on the Stewart Mountain Trail that resulted in a man being stabbed, sheriff’s office spokesperson Deb Slater told The Bellingham Herald in an email.
At the trailhead parking area, deputies spoke to a small group of hikers, including Traphagen, and they said that they had been hiking down the trail when they came across a mountain biker going up the trail, Slater reported. An argument followed over which had the right of way on the trail.
Traphagen told deputies that the biker had attacked him with his bike and they fell to the ground, according to Slater. While fighting on the ground, Traphagen told deputies he pulled out his pocket knife and stabbed the biker in what he said was self-defense to get the biker off him.
The biker and the hikers then left the area, and the hikers called 911, Slater reported. The biker had left the area by the time deputies arrived.
Traphagen took to Nextdoor.com with his side of the story, which was similar to what the hikers told deputies.
But later in the afternoon, deputies responded to a Bellingham home after an ambulance was called for a 66-year-old man who had suffered multiple stab wounds, Slater reported. They were able to identify the man as the mountain biker, and he was taken to St. Joseph hospital for treatment of his injuries and later airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle due to the severity of the injuries.
Detectives interviewed the biker several days later, according to Slater, and he reported that:
▪ He had been riding uphill when he encountered the group of hikers. He said that he was riding uphill at a slow speed and requested they move aside, as he was trying to negotiate an area of exposed tree roots and he was clipped to his bike.
▪ Rather than move out of the way, a man in the group grabbed his handlebars, causing him to lose balance, causing him and his bike to fall onto Traphagen. The biker and Traphagen became tangled, as the biker was still clipped to his bike.
▪ Traghagen began hitting him and everyone was yelling for him to get off the man.
▪ The biker then noticed he wasn’t being hit, but that Traphagen had a knife and was stabbing him in the arm and the leg.
▪ After he was able to get off his bike, he was concerned for his safety and bleeding heavily, but he was able to leave the area and head home.
Further investigation by the detectives established probable cause to arrest Traphagen for assault and possession of a dangerous weapon, as the knife he used was a spring blade that is not legal in Washington state, Slater reported.
Traphagen turned himself into the sheriff’s office on Tuesday and was placed under arrest. Jail records show he was released Tuesday evening on $1,000 bail.
This story was originally published March 23, 2021 at 12:48 PM.
