Bellingham man allegedly stole a Prius and drove off with a good Samaritan’s gun inside
A Bellingham man is suspected of stealing a Prius parked at an AM/PM, and in the process, stealing a gun that a good Samaritan used to attempt to stop the theft. The man then allegedly traded the stolen gun for an eighth-ounce of heroin and later led police on a chase.
Bellingham Police booked Kyle Austin Berard, 28, into Whatcom County Jail Saturday, June 19, on suspicion of charges including first-degree robbery, theft of a firearm, unlawful possession of a firearm, second-degree theft and theft of a motor vehicle. Jail records show he is being held in lieu of $80,000 bail.
Officers were called at 7:35 p.m. Thursday, June 17, to the AM/PM convenience store in the 4200 block of Meridian Street for the report of a blue Toyota Prius being stolen.
Lt. Claudia Murphy told The Bellingham Herald in an email that officers learned:
▪ The victim arrived at the AM/PM in the Prius and went into the store. When she returned she found Berard seated inside her Prius.
▪ The victim screamed for the good Samaritan, who had arrived in his own car at about the same time she had, to help her, and he ran to his car, grabbed his 9 mm Ruger pistol and confronted Berard still inside the Prius. The good Samaritan opened the door to the Prius and attempted to pull Berard out of the car, but Berard pushed back.
▪ Berard was able to get the car into reverse and back up.
▪ At some point during the struggle, the good Samaritan’s gun fell into the Prius before Berard was able to drive away with the gun still inside. The victim’s iPhone 12 also was still inside the Prius when Berard drove off.
Approximately four hours later, Washington State Patrol troopers saw the stolen Prius and attempted to make a traffic stop, Murphy reported, but the car’s driver did not stop.
The Prius was later found in the 4400 block of Curtis Road and impounded, according to Murphy, and on Friday, Bellingham Police Crime Scene Investigators found a backpack with a prepaid debit card in Berard’s name inside the car.
On Saturday, police were called for a report of a suspicious person near Bellis Fair Mall, Murphy reported, after security saw a man removing tags from merchandise in the parking lot.
Police arrived and found Berard, who gave them a false name, wearing boots that had a distinctive light-colored tag at the top that had been seen in surveillance video of the Prius theft two nights earlier.
Officers arrested Berard on suspicion of criminal impersonation, Murphy reported, and he later reportedly admitted to stealing the Prius and the gun, driving to Kendall to trade the gun for an “eight-ball” (an eighth of an ounce) of heroin, leading the State Patrol on a chase and abandoning the Prius to run away as fast as he could and spending the night in the garage of an unknown person. When he awoke, he reportedly got a ride to Bellingham, ditched his clothing and got new clothing at Fred Meyer, which he later was seen taking the tags off the clothing by mall security.
Whatcom County Superior Court records show Berard has previous felony convictions for assault, trafficking stolen property, theft, obstruction, protection order violation, possession of a controlled substance and burglary.
