Man suspected of stealing from a Whatcom County home of woman who died 2 weeks earlier
A Whatcom County man is suspected of breaking into the home of a woman who recently died and stealing her checkbooks, credit cards and identification.
The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office booked Nathaniel Chavez Huckaby, 35, into Whatcom County Jail Nov. 18 on suspicion of residential burglary, second-degree possession of stolen property and second-degree identity theft. Jail records show he was released Nov. 19 on personal recognizance.
Deputies were called at 6:45 p.m. Nov. 18 to make a security check in the 4100 block of Rural Avenue, after a neighbor reported a suspicious vehicle in the driveway, according to Whatcom County Superior Court documents filed Nov. 24.
Deputies had been at the same address on Nov. 6 and found the owner, who lived alone, had died, documents state. Deputies contacted the deceased resident’s next of kin, who lived in Florida.
As deputies arrived on Nov. 18, an unidentified man carrying a machete came running out of the driveway and headed south on Rural Avenue, according to documents. The unidentified man reportedly ignored deputies’ commands to stop, headed eastbound through a neighboring property and was not located.
Deputies also noticed that the door to the home was open and saw Huckaby on the property, and they detained him, documents state.
During a search of Huckaby, deputies found a wallet containing the driver’s licenses of the dead victim and her deceased husband in Huckaby’s pants pocket, according to documents. The wallet also contained three checks with the victim’s name on them, and one of the checks reportedly was dated Nov. 18. It reportedly was made out for $4,800, was made payable to another man and had the victim’s name signed on it.
Deputies also found a small plastic bag with 14 small blue pills that Huckaby said were fentanyl, documents state.
Huckaby told deputies that he and the unidentified man had entered the victim’s home and brought property in a small duffle bag to his car, according to documents.
In the duffle bag, deputies found numerous credit cards in the victim’s and her husband’s names and three checkbooks with the victim’s name and address on them, documents state. Deputies also reportedly located a container with 12.1 grams of suspected crystal meth.
Records show Huckaby is scheduled to be arraigned Friday, Dec. 3, in Whatcom County Superior Court.
Court records also show Huckaby has previous convictions for theft, assault and attempting to elude police.
This story was originally published November 27, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
