Whatcom County man reportedly drives a car off Bellingham lot, but he didn’t pay for it
A Ferndale man is suspected of breaking into a Bellingham car dealership, stealing the keys to cars on the lot and then driving off the lot in a stolen 2019 Cadillac XTS.
The Bellingham Police Department booked Dominick Gammons-Reese Jr., 23, into Whatcom County Jail on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle, second-degree burglary, third-degree malicious mischief and third-degree theft, and jail records show Gammons-Reese is being held in lieu of $10,000 bail.
Officers responded at 7:42 a.m. Aug. 11 after to the dealership after the service manager called to report the burglary, Whatcom County Superior Court documents show.
The service manager showed police surveillance video of the incident, which showed a suspect, later identified as Gammons-Reese, approach the front door of the dealership, use a large metal object to smash the glass door and enter the dealership. Gammons-Reese then reportedly went into an office where multiple sets of keys to vehicles that had recently been traded in were kept, stole the keys and left through the broken front door.
A short time later, the Cadillac was seen being driven off the lot, documents state.
Police identified the suspect in the video as Gammons-Reese and confirmed his identity by comparing mug shots from previous arrests, according to documents.
On Aug. 12, police spotted Gammons-Reese at a grocery store along Meridian Street wearing the same maroon shirt he was seen wearing on the dealership’s surveillance video, documents state. Officers arrested Gammons-Reese, and keys to the Cadillac were reportedly found in his shorts pocket and the car was located along Illinois Street with Gammons-Reese’s belongings inside.
Court records show that Gammons-Reese is awaiting a trial scheduled to begin Oct. 3 on a possession of a stolen vehicle charge stemming from a Jan. 23 incident in which he was reportedly found in Ferndale sleeping in a silver Dodge Charger that had been reported stolen in Tacoma.
As of Monday, Aug. 22, Bellingham had 372 reported car thefts in 2022, including 27 during the first three weeks of August, according to the city of Bellingham’s crime statistics webpage. For the record, there were 180 reported car thefts during the first eight months of 2021, including 31 in all of August.
