A Whatcom County man with 20 convictions and awaiting trial on another 18 charges is suspected of stealing memorabilia from a storage unit and later attempting to elude sheriff's deputies.
The Whatcom County Sheriff's Office booked Wendell Lee Davidson, 37, into Whatcom County Jail Wednesday, Sept. 7, on suspicion of attempting to elude police vehicles, second-degree burglary, possession of burglary tools, obstructing a police officer and resisting arrest, and jail records show he is being held in lieu of $125,000 bail.
At approximately 10:12 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 6, deputies saw a vehicle parked on the wrong side of the road in the 4200 block of Tull Road, according to Whatcom County Superior Court documents. Deputies checked the vehicle's license and found it was registered to Davidson, who was suspected in a recent burglary.
Deputies spoke to Davidson and asked him to step out of the vehicle, documents state, and Davidson threw the vehicle into gear and drove away "at a high rate of speed," running a stop sign in the process.
Deputies followed, attempting to get Davidson to stop, but documents state he refused to pull over, and deputies reported seeing him driving faster than the speed limit and into the oncoming lane of traffic to pass other cars.
Deputies lost sight of Davidson's vehicle, but eventually found it unoccupied in the 4200 block of King Mountain Road, according to documents. After a K9 track, Davidson was located reportedly hiding under a deck in the 4200 block of King Aveune.
Davidson later allowed deputies to search his car, and documents state they located a lock pick set.
Davidson complained about chest pain and difficulty breathing, so documents state deputies called for medical aid, and Davidson was taken to the hospital for treatment. He was booked into jail after being released from medical care.
The alleged burglary stemmed from an incident last spring, when a victim who was renting a storage unit in Bellingham reported on June 7 that his possessions had been gone through and moved, documents state, adding that the victim noted it appeared a hole in the steel sheeting between his storage unit and the next had been repaired.
The victim went through his possessions and found two totes that contained sports trading cards, comic books and "a lifetime of sports collectibles and memorabilia" were missing, according to court documents.
Deputies investigated and found that someone had cut the sheet metal between the two units to gain entry and then attempted to repair it, documents state.
The deputies contacted the renter of the neighboring unit, who reported that he attempted to consolidate his belongings and move into a smaller unit in late May, according to documents. The renter also reported that he hired Davidson to help with the move and that Davidson had the key and unsupervised access to the unit between May 25 and May 30.
Davidson also had two storage units at the facility, documents state, and after obtaining a warrant, deputies searched them and found items belonging to the victim in both units.
Facing a long list of charges
If all five charges are filed against Davidson from the two incidents, it will bring the number of charges he's currently facing to 23, as court records show he's already facing:
— First-degree trafficking of stolen property and second-degree possession of stolen property charges filed July 21 stemming from a reported burglary at a Ferndale storage facility, after the renters of a unit reported 3,876 knives worth nearly $47,000 had been stolen from their unit between Oct. 6 and Nov. 17, 2021.
On March 28, Ferndale officers were notified by the victim that he had located a person in Bellingham who was selling 29 different models of the knives that had been stolen on eBay. Police found the P.O. Box where the knives were being shipped from and the eBay account being used to sell the knives belonged to Davidson, documents state. Additionally, police reportedly found two knives matching those that were stolen in Davidson's possession and more than 100 more were found during the sheriff's office's search of Davidson's storage units in June.
— First-degree unlawful firearm possession, possession of a stolen firearm, possession of a stolen vehicle and second-degree burglary charges filed Jan. 31 stemming from a Jan. 29 stop by Bellingham Police that found Davidson was driving a Honda Odyssey minivan that his wife had reported stolen and Davidson had apparently been hiding from her. Police also located a gun that had been stolen from the bedside table of a woman he knew.
Davidson also was arrested at the time on suspicion of a July 2020 burglary at a storage facility when a unit renter reported three totes with keepsakes, sports memorabilia, comic books, old identification and Social Security cards and an XBox game system had been stolen along with some camping gear and a kayak. Davidson reportedly was seen on surveillance video driving the Odyssey into the storage facility and loading it with the victim's belongings.
— First-degree unlawful firearm possession, possession of a stolen vehicle, second-degree possession of stolen property (two charges) and third-degree possession of stolen property (two charges) charges filed Dec. 4, 2020, stemming from a Nov. 4, 2020, incident in which Davidson and another man were suspected of breaking into a Ferndale business and stealing two safes. Deputies found Davidson and the other man unloading the safes in a storage unit rented by Davidson.
After getting a search warrant for the unit, deputies reportedly found a 9mm handgun; a motorcycle that had been reported stolen in Bellingham a few months earlier; some of the nearly $20,000 in tools that had been reported stolen from a job site in Bellingham on Oct. 16, 2020; more than $5,000 in tools that had been reported stolen from a job site in Ferndale on Oct. 29, 2020; an envelope that had been reported stolen from the neighboring storage unit and nearly $4,000 in power tools that belonged to Home Depot and had not been reported stolen.
— Residential burglary, theft of a firearm, first-degree theft, first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and first-degree possession of stolen property charges filed Nov. 5, 2020, stemming from an Aug. 22, 2020, incident when a Bellingham homeowner reported his home had been broken into while he was at work. A gun safe with $10,500 in firearms was stolen, along with nearly $2,500 in paychecks and a Harley Davidson motorcycle, which was valued at $8,000 and found in Davidson's storage unit later in 2020, were reported stolen.
After learning that Davidson's car was seen at the victim's home and that he was known to a person staying at the victim's home, police spoke to Davidson, who reportedly admitted to hauling away some of the belongings and the gun safe and that he had traded some of the guns for drugs and gave the rest to another person. Davidson reported he knew the motorcycle had been taken, but said he did not know who rode off on it.
— Second-degree burglary charges were also filed Nov. 5 stemming from the Nov. 4 incident in which three Ferndale businesses were reportedly broken into and the two safes were stolen. Deputies found that access was gained to one of the units by cutting out a section of metal siding so that someone could enter and unlock the door. In addition to one of the safes, items reported stolen from the unit included $711 in cash, checkbooks and registers, an antique check imprinting machine, keys to properties and vehicles owned by the company and a cordless Makita drill and charger.
The second safe was stolen from a second business after a screen was popped out and a window forced open to gain access to the unit. A lower section of a large roll-up door was found forced open at the third business. Nothing was found missing from that unit, though a pallet jack was found left in the second business, where it appeared somebody had tried unsuccessfully to move another, larger safe.
A jury trial for 16 of the 18 charges Davidson is facing has been scheduled for Nov. 21, while he is scheduled to be arraigned for the other two on Friday, Sept. 16.
Davidson already has been convicted of 20 crimes between 2001 and 2016, including eight for theft, two for possession of a stolen vehicle, two for residential burglary, two for burglary and one each for forgery, theft of a motor vehicle, unlawful issuance of checks (non-sufficient funds), possession of a controlled substance, theft of a firearm and third-degree assault.
