BELLINGHAM, Wash. — A Blaine man pled guilty to charges of vehicular assault with disregard for the safety of others and 2nd degree burglary in Whatcom County Superior Court earlier this month.
The charges stemmed from an incident in late August when 2 men attempted to burglarize the same property a second time only to discover the victim lying in wait in the early morning hours. After being confronted by the victim, the men fled to their parked van and took off. The victim said that as they drove away, he was struck by the van’s passenger-side mirror.
The van was located soon after by Blaine Police and WCSO deputies with the 2 men inside. They were arrested and booked into Whatcom County Jail.
The driver, identified as Trenten Dean Pope, age 36, of Blaine, was sentenced to 9 months in custody on the burglary charge and 11 months on the vehicular assault charge. Both sentences are to be served concurrently, making the total time in custody 11 months. Pope is eligible to serve the sentence in partial confinement including in- and out-of-custody work crew, work release and electronic home detention.
Click for more information
Click for more informationPope was also sentenced to a year of community custody.
According to court documents, Pope had previous felony convictions since 2002 for 2nd degree theft, possession of a stolen vehicle, 2nd degree burglary and 1st degree theft.
Samual Paul Belles, age 22 and also of Blaine, was arrested with Pope and charged with 2nd degree attempted burglary. According to court documents, Belles failed to appear at a court hearing on November 1st and a bench warrant for his arrest was issued. He had been out of custody after posting a $15,000 bond in September. The bond was forfeited given his failure to appear in court.