Man who walked away from Bellingham hospital pending arrest last month is back in custody
A man who walked out of a Bellingham hospital as authorities were waiting to arrest him was found and detained again by law enforcement nearly four weeks later.
Bellingham Police officers initially detained Jason Allen John, 50, the afternoon of Sunday, Nov. 10, following a dangerous high-speed chase that ended when John crashed his 2017 Toyota Camry into a parked police vehicle.
The crash left John unconscious, and he was taken to St. Joseph Medical Center for treatment pending an arrest. While officers waited to arrest him, John woke up and left the hospital before staff or authorities realized he was gone.
Megan Peters with the Bellingham Police Department said shortly after the Nov. 10 chase that John was in violation of a felony domestic violence no-contact order, and the alleged victim was in the vehicle with him during the chase, which began when officers attempted to pull over John’s Camry near James Street and Woodstock Way.
Officers found and detained John again the night of Wednesday, Dec. 4, when police say he again attempted to elude them at a Bellingham apartment. John allegedly had another individual tell police he wasn’t there, then attempted to exit the apartment’s back door. Officers were waiting for him but he attempted to walk away before being apprehended, police say.
Officers took John back to the hospital to be checked by medical staff before being booked into Whatcom County Jail at just after midnight. John remains in custody. He faces several charges, including two counts of violation of a no-contact order, attempting to elude a police vehicle, felony harassment, third-degree malicious mischief, vehicle theft and second-degree taking a motor vehicle without permission.
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