Suspect arrested after security guard assaulted at Bellingham park
Bellingham police have arrested a man following an attack on a security officer in Maritime Heritage Park.
Police responded to the park around 11:24 p.m. June 14 and heard someone crying out for help. They discovered a man pinning a security guard to the ground with an arm around her neck, according to Lt. Claudia Murphy with the Bellingham Police Department.
Police were able to free the guard from the man’s grip and separate the two of them.
The suspect, a 71-year-old man from Metlakatla, Alaska, had previously been trespassed out of the park earlier in the day, Murphy said.
The suspect allegedly attacked the security guard after the guard found him sleeping and woke him up. The guard told the man he had to leave the park or the police would be called, according to Murphy.
While speaking with the man, the guard dropped her flashlight. When she picked it up, the man wrapped his arms around the guard’s neck and pulled her to the ground, Murphy said.
At one point during the altercation the suspect allegedly grabbed the guard by the throat with both hands and attempted to choke her. He also allegedly drove his thumbs into the guard’s eyes and bit her several times, Murphy said.
The man was arrested on suspicion of second-degree assault, a class B felony; unlawful imprisonment, a class C felony; and second-degree criminal trespass, a misdemeanor.
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