BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Bellingham Police are investigating a potential hate crime following an assault outside an apartment building on Sunday night.
Bellingham Police Lt. Claudia Murphy says officers were called to a report of a fight on N. Samish Way around 10:15 p.m.
The victim told police that he was a security guard at the building and told two men not to smoke so close to the entrance. The guard says one of the men became upset and pushed him to the ground, threw punches and eventually choked him to the point he could not breathe.
According to the guard, the suspect repeatedly threatened to kill him while he was choking him and called him a racial slur that did not match the guard’s race or ethnicity.
The guard says the second man helped hold him down during the attack and tried to get his dog to bite him.
Murphy says the first 38-year-old suspected attacker is white and his 51-year-old associate is Hispanic or Latino.
The victim is Hispanic or Latino as well.
The two suspects were arrested and remain at the Whatcom County Jail without bail.
Bellingham Police detectives are currently reviewing the incident to see if the men should face hate crime charges.
