Whatcom man said he was taking stolen tools back, but victim’s receipt showed otherwise
A Whatcom County man is suspected of recruiting two of his friends to help him threaten another man with bear mace and steal approximately $2,000 in Milwuakee tools.
Bellingham Police booked Carter Alen Leland, 25 of Lynden, into Whatcom County Jail Aug. 27 on suspicion of first-degree robbery, second-degree theft and DUI, and jail records show he was released Aug. 29 on $2,500 bail.
Officers received a report of a robbery in progress at approximately 8:09 p.m. Aug. 27, after the victim reported he was following the suspect in a white Nissan pickup, Whatcom County Superior Court documents state.
Police located the pickup and found Leland and one of his friends and detained both, documents state.
Leland told officers that his friend had called him earlier in the day and told him that he had located Leland’s tools, which he said previously have been stolen, in the victim’s possession behind the Bellingham Walmart, according to documents. They reportedly called another friend and made a plan to take the tools back from the victim’s trunk.
Leland told officers that after they got the tools, the victim chased them with a knife, according to documents.
The victim, meanwhile, told police that Leland had reached into his car, pulled the trunk release and that Leland and one of his friends began stealing the boxes of Milwaukee tools from his trunk, according to documents. When the victim protested, one of Leland’s friends pointed a can of bear mace at the victim.
Once they reportedly had loaded the tools in the truck, Leland and one of the friends left, and the victim followed and called 911, according to documents.
The victim reportedly showed police receipts from earlier in the year that matched the tools that Leland and his friends had taken, documents state, while Leland had no receipts to prove the tools were his. When police asked him how he knew the tools were his, Leland reportedly said it was based on a “coincidence.”
Leland also was found to be driving under the influence, according to documents.
