Bellingham woman reportedly stabs another during fight in garage at Chrysalis Inn
A Bellingham woman is suspected of stabbing another in the chest and leg early Tuesday in the parking lot of the Chrysalis Inn and Spa.
Bellingham Police booked Emily Louis Brackinreed, 23, into Whatcom County Jail Tuesday, July 5, on suspicion of second-degree assault. Jail records show Brackinreed is being held in lieu of $25,000 bail.
Officers were called at 3:51 a.m. Tuesday to the Chrysalis for the report of an assault with a weapon, after a man told the clerk at the inn that somebody had been stabbed in the parking garage, Whatcom County Superior Court documents released Friday, July 8, state.
While police were responding to the Chrysalis, other officers and medics were at a nearby gas station on Old Fairhaven Parkway tending to a woman who had stab wounds to her chest and leg, documents state. She was taken to St. Joseph’s hospital for treatment to her injuries.
At the Chrysalis, officers spoke to Brackinreed, documents state, and they also viewed surveillance video from the parking garage.
The video showed the victim approaching Brackinreed, who was in a car, according to documents, and almost as soon as the two women began speaking, Brackinreed jumped out and started attacking the victim. The video reportedly showed Brackinreed stab the victim in the chest, before the two fought on the ground and Brackinreed stabbed the victim in the thigh.
Brackinreed told officers that she was waiting for the boyfriend of the victim in the garage, when the victim began punching her through the open car window and tried to burn her using a lighter and some sort of canned spray, documents state. Brackinreed said the victim then pulled her from the car and hit her head so hard that she couldn’t see.
Brackinreed said she pulled the knife from her pocket and started swinging it in self-defense before the boyfriend pulled the two apart and they left, according to documents.
Police did not see any bright orange or yellow light on the video that would suggest the victim was attempting to use fire to burn Brackinreed, documents state.
