FERNDALE, Wash. — The third suspect in an armed robbery of a Ferndale business Monday night remained at large yesterday, October 20th, until a resident called 911 to report seeing him.
Ferndale Police issued a press release today saying that about 1pm yesterday What-Comm 911 call receivers received information the suspect, thought to have displayed a handgun during the robbery, had been sighted. A Ferndale Police officer confirmed the sighting in the 2000 block of Grandview Road.
The suspect fled from the officer and multiple law enforcement agencies including Whatcom County Sheriff’s Department, Bellingham Police Department and Washington State Patrol responded to the area and set up a perimeter to contain him.
Grandview Road and other nearby roads were blocked off and a helicopter from US Customs and Border Protection joined the search. At one point, both directions of I-5 were blocked off for a short time.
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Click for more informationFerndale Police reported the suspect failed to comply with verbal commands so a Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office SWAT used “less-than-lethal munitions to gain cooperation.”
The suspect came out of hiding and surrendered to the SWAT team. He was later booked into the Whatcom County Jail by Ferndale Police.
Whatcom Jail records identify the suspect as 29-year-old Abshir A Ali. Ali remained in custody this morning pending a preliminary appearance in Whatcom County Superior Court scheduled for this afternoon.
The other two suspects in the robbery were taken into custody that night after a vehicle pursuit.