Woman arrested for vehicular homicide in Bellingham hit-and-run
A 25-year-old Bellingham woman was arrested on Wednesday, May 18, for vehicular homicide and hit-and-run/death in connection with the death of a Deming man in Bellingham May 6.
Rayven T. D. Butler-Washington, 25, was arrested about 11 a.m. by Lummi Police Department on an arrest warrant from Bellingham. She was arrested without incident, according to an email from police spokesperson Lt. Claudia Murphy. Butler-Washington is being held without bail at Whatcom County Jail.
Bellingham police identified the dead man Wednesday as Pablo S. Rabang, 38. His injuries were reported as being consistent with being struck and then run over by a vehicle.
Police reported finding the man’s body in the intersection of Hammer Drive and Midway Lane in Bellingham’s Irongate area shortly before 9 a.m. May 6. Bellingham Fire pronounced him dead at the scene.
A dark-colored Ford Explorer was reported fleeing the scene and officers were told there had been an argument between a man and woman and that the man was supposed to have a gun.
The investigation revealed that the dark SUV had been parked among two occupied RVs in a gravel lot earlier in the morning and that a witness saw the dark-colored Explorer hit one of the motor homes and then hit Rabang and drive away, Murphy wrote.
Officers found several duffle bags on the ground near one of the RVs. After obtaining search warrants, Murphy wrote, the bags were found to contain documents with Butler-Washington’s and Rabang’s names on them along with a bill of sale for a 2004 Ford Explorer.
The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office was alerted to the Explorer in the 1300 block of Marine Drive about 3 p.m. Butler-Washington was in the driver’s seat and the Explorer had front-end damage consistent with a crash.
Video surveillance and witness interviews led detectives to develop probable cause for vehicular homicide and hit-and-run/death charges, according to Murphy.
This story was originally published May 19, 2022 at 8:28 AM.
