Bellingham police arrest woman accused of swinging machete at health clinic

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Police have arrested a 62-year-old Bellingham woman on suspicion of second-degree assault after she allegedly swung a machete at a woman inside a Unity Care NW lobby.

Bellingham Police Department Lt. Claudia Murphy said police were called to the Unity Care NW clinic in the 200 block of Unity Street at 11:21 a.m. Thursday. They say that when they arrived, the 62-year-old woman was swinging a machete and breaking plastic glass partitions in the lobby.

Officers learned that the woman became upset, and another person tried to calm her down. Murphy said the woman got more upset, grabbed a machete from her bag and swung it at the other person, cutting a gash in their sweater before they managed to get away.



The woman continued to swing the machete and broke plastic glass partitions. A piece of one of the partitions hit another person in the face, causing a cut.

The woman dropped the machete when police arrived, and she was taken into custody on suspicion of second-degree and fourth-degree assault.

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