Police: Bellingham car chase suspect strips to avoid arrest

A Bellingham car chase suspect tried stripping down to his boxers to avoid arrest early Friday, Dec. 10, but ended up in jail anyway, according to police.

Around midnight an officer saw a white ’94 Buick LeSabre outside Bellis Fair mall and — for a reason that wasn’t mentioned in a police report — asked a dispatcher to look up information on the license plate, said Bellingham Police Lt. Bob Vander Yacht.

The owner had a suspended license, police discovered, and he appeared to match the description of the man driving. So the officer tried to pull over the Buick on Interstate 5. The car kept going, not exactly speeding up or slowing down at first, Vander Yacht said.

The car exited to Samish Way, then motored south through Happy Valley — taking 32nd Street, Donovan Avenue and 22nd Street to the 1800 block of Old Fairhaven Parkway — blowing through stop signs on the way, Vander Yacht said. Other officers joined in a pursuit that topped out at about 60 mph.

Eventually the driver pulled over to the left side of the road on Old Fairhaven and jumped out. Police noted he was wearing a distinct plaid shirt. A K-9 team was called in to help with the search. A woman at told officers she’d almost been bowled over by a man rushing to an apartment in the 1900 block of 16th Street.

Officers knocked on an apartment door, and another woman answered. She apparently knew the suspect, and she let police come in, Vander Yacht said. Officers spoke with Robert Jerome Roller, 30, who had been in his boxers. He claimed he’d been at the apartment the whole night. Police found the plaid shirt in the apartment.

Roller was arrested. Police learned he was not, in fact, the owner of the Buick with the suspended license. As it turned out, however, Roller had a suspended license, too. He faces charges of attempting to elude law enforcement, driving without an ignition interlock device, driving with a license suspended in the third degree, and obstructing law enforcement.

This story was originally published December 11, 2015 at 8:10 PM with the headline "Police: Bellingham car chase suspect strips to avoid arrest."