U.S. flags awarded to soldier among the stolen items recovered after Bellingham car crash
Bellingham Police found a host of stolen items, including several American flags awarded to a former U.S. Army soldier and two shotguns, in a stolen car that was involved in a single-vehicle collision Thursday afternoon.
“There appear to be dozens of victims in this case and it will take days to identify all of them and associate the property to the specific vehicle prowls and/or burglaries,” Lt. Claudia Murphy told The Bellingham Herald in an email Friday morning, March 25.
Tyler Roy Jurich, 27, was booked into Whatcom County Jail March 24, on suspicion of possession of a stolen vehicle, unlawful possession of a firearm and first-degree possession of stolen property.
Officers were called at approximately 4:48 p.m. Thursday to the 3600 block of James Street north of Sunset Pond for the report of a single-vehicle collision, Murphy reported.
They arrived to find a Volvo in the ditch and the driver, later identified as Jurich, running from the scene, according to Murphy.
Officers checked the car and found it had been reported stolen Tuesday, March 23, from an apartment complex garage in Bellingham, Murphy reported. The car was totaled in the crash.
K9 Rudy and his handler were called and began a search for Jurich, which led them through a wooded area before Jurich was located and arrested without incident, Murphy reported. Jurich requested medical attention due to being involved in the car crash.
A witness at the scene identified Jurich as the driver of the crashed Volvo, according to Murphy.
A search of the Volvo revealed a “tremendous amount” of stolen property, including the shotguns and the stolen military gear, Murphy reported. The military gear belonged to a former U.S. Army soldier, who recently had his storage unit broken into, and included flags the soldier had been presented from overseas tours, according to Murphy.
Police were able to recover the flags and returned them to the former soldier Thursday night.
Bellingham Police crime scene investigators still are attempting to identify and return other stolen items found in the Volvo to recent burglary and car break-in victims, according to Murphy, but that might take several days.
Jurich also has been charged with possession of a stolen vehicle from earlier this month, Murphy reported, as he was located March 5 in the 1000 block of North State Street in a vehicle that had been reported stolen three days earlier. Jurich was just about to smoke narcotics at the time officers noted the stolen plates on the car he was in, according to Murphy, and he admitted to stealing the car.
Jail records show he was booked March 5 and released two days later on $10,000 bail. Whatcom County Superior Court records show he is scheduled to be arraigned Friday, March 25.
Court records also show Jurich has a previous conviction for first-degree theft from an incident in 2007.
