Fight over smoking near Bellingham building leads to assault, hate crime charges
Whatcom County authorities arrested two Bellingham men on suspicion of assaulting another man after they were asked to stop smoking.
A security guard contacted two men who were smoking near the entrance to a building in the 300 block of North Samish Way around 10:15 p.m. Aug. 10 in the 300 block .
A fight broke out, and the guard and one of the suspects — Seaton Ray Land, 38 — ended up on the ground, according to Lt. Claudia Murphy with the Bellingham Police Department.
Land allegedly had his hands around the guard’s neck to stop him breathing. Land also threatened to kill the guard, and used racially charged language, according to authorities.
Murphy said the second man, Juan Ubaldo Serna, 51, held the guard to the ground and was encouraging his dog to bite the guard.
Both Land and Serna were taken into custody without incident.
Land has been charged with commission of a hate-crime assault, second-degree assault by strangulation and felony harassment in threats to kill. Serna was has been charged with second-degree strangulation.
Both suspects have been bonded out of custody.
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