Bellingham police say stalking suspect was armed and in violation of no-contact order
Authorities recently arrested a man for stalking after officers reportedly found him in a parking lot near a woman’s home with two loaded guns and a tactical vest, according to Lt. Claudia Murphy with the Bellingham Police Department.
Police were called to a secured apartment building on Northwest Avenue at 11:37 p.m. Dec. 29 by a woman who said that months earlier she had ended a relationship with the suspect, Thomas Franklin Lingle, 57. She told police Lingle was outside the secured building but trying to get in. He had entered the building earlier that night around 8 p.m. and the woman called police but said he left before officers arrived, according to Murphy.
Officers returned later to find Lingle driving around the front of the complex, where he ran over a curb. The police pulled him over and determined he was likely intoxicated. They also found a loaded rifle, handgun and tactical vest in his truck, according to Murphy.
The woman told police Lingle had called and texted her approximately 18 times between 6 and 11:30 p.m., and he had threatened to use the guns on her, Murphy said.
Court documents list Blaine as Lingle’s town of residence. He has been arrested and charged with stalking with a previous conviction modifier, a class B felony, and violation of protective order with a deadly weapon, a class C felony.
Lingle has since been bonded out of custody.
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