Police: Bellingham theft suspect used own number to activate stolen credit card
Bellingham police arrested a man for allegedly using a stolen debit card to spend nearly $4,500 over three days.
Police were contacted Jan. 7 by the owner of a business on West Bakerview Road after the owner had discovered several transactions on their account between Dec. 29-31. The transactions included several ATM withdrawals and purchases at stores in Ferndale and Bellingham for a total of $4,442, according to Lt. Claudia Murphy with the Bellingham Police Department.
The card was still in possession of the business owner, and an investigation revealed there was an error made on the issuance of the debit card. Another card was mailed but never received. The second card was activated using a phone number owned by the suspect.
Police obtained footage from two ATMs and two casinos, and the person in the footage matched a picture of the suspect.
Deputies with the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office confronted the suspect March 11 on Imhof Road. He was taken into custody without incident.
He was arrested on suspicion of second-degree possession of stolen property, second-degree theft and first-degree identity theft. He had yet to be formally charged as of Friday morning.
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