Boulder halts stolen car to end police chase in Bellingham

A Bellingham car thief tried to flee police by driving a Honda Civic onto a footpath Friday morning, Dec. 11, but got stopped by a large rock blocking the trailhead, according to police.

The car’s owner had been eating with her family at a McDonald’s restaurant, 1914 King St., when she saw the car, a silver ’94 Honda Civic, was missing from the parking lot. The keys had been left in the car, said Bellingham Police Lt. Bob Vander Yacht. Police were called at 11:21 a.m.

Minutes later, at 11:35 a.m., an officer on patrol spotted the Honda headed east on Alabama Street, about 1 ½ miles from the McDonald’s. The officer tried to pull over the car, but instead the Honda turned onto residential streets on Alabama Hill, toward Crown Lane, police said.

Once the driver reached Rhododendron Way, a dead end on the edge of Whatcom Falls Park, the driver tried to squeeze the car southward along a short, narrow footpath that leads to a cul de sac of Iowa Drive, according to police. The car didn’t make it past a boulder, about three feet in diameter, that’s used as a bollard on the end of the trail.

The car lurched to a stop as it struck the rock, and the driver, identified as Deven Joseph Jeffery, 22, opened the door and tried to flee, Vander Yacht said. After a quick foot chase he surrendered, according to police.

He was booked into Whatcom County Jail on suspicion of taking a motor vehicle without permission and attempting to elude law enforcement.

Jeffery was convicted twice of possession of a stolen vehicle as a juvenile, in 2008 and 2009. Since turning 18, he’s been convicted twice more of taking a motor vehicle without permission.

One of those cars was stolen, Jeffery admitted, when he saw the keys had been left in the ignition in January 2014, according to charging papers. He then used the key from that car, a Hyundai, to jimmy open the door of another car. He swapped out the license plates, and abandoned the plates in the trunk of the first car, the Hyundai, he told police.

Out of jail two months later, on $10,000 bond, he stole a ’79 Ford pickup from a park and ride in Bellingham. Later that same day the truck owner saw Jeffery driving the F-350 on North State Street. The victim pulled in front of Jeffery, blocked him off, and started yelling at him. Jeffery got out and ran. Police caught up to him. He admitted that day he saw the key in the ignition of the truck, so he took it, according to charging papers.

He pleaded guilty to those crimes. Twenty months ago, he was sentenced to 26 months in prison. It’s common in Washington state for nonviolent offenders to get time off for good behavior.

According to court records, Jeffery sometimes goes by the alias Deven J. Pray or a variation of that name.

This story was originally published December 11, 2015 at 5:27 PM with the headline "Boulder halts stolen car to end police chase in Bellingham."