Man already charged with drug possession by a jail prisoner, now suspected in drug overdose homicide in Whatcom Jail

BELLINGHAM, Wash. — Angel Lewis Leffingwell, age 38, has been housed in the Whatcom County Jail since being arrested February 25th following a high-speed pursuit in heavy rain that ended with the driver fleeing the vehicle after crashing into a light pole and a power pole. His bail for the resulting felony charges of attempting to elude police and vehicular assault (while DUI) was set at $20,000 bond or $2,000 cash.

On February 27th, Leffingwell was found to have pills suspected to be fentanyl while in custody at the jail and was subsequently charged with felony possession of a controlled substance by a prisoner. His bail for this charge was set at $20,000 bond or $2,000 cash.

On March 13th, 2 inmates were found unresponsive in their shared cell about 10:20am. One, a 28-year-old male, was transported to the hospital for treatment of a suspected drug overdose. The other inmate was unable to be revived and declared deceased at the jail.

Due to Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office’s has the primary responsibilities for operating the jail, a Law Enforcement Mutual Aid Response Team (LEMART) composed of other local law enforcement agencies will be investigating the death.

The death is being investigated as a controlled substance homicide and on March 15th, Leffingwell was charged with 1 count of controlled substance homicide and possession of a controlled substance by a prisoner and 2 counts of delivery of a controlled substance. His bail for these charges has been set at $2 million cash or bond.

The initial investigation into the death found that on the day of the overdoses, Leffingwell was the only inmate in the housing common area while all other inmates were in their respective cells. He went back and forth between his cell and the cell where Haas and his cellmate were housed. At approximately 10:20am, an uninvolved inmate pushed an alert to summon jail corrections officers. They arrived to find Haas and his cellmate unconscious and non-responsive. Lifesaving measures were unsuccessful in reviving one of the cellmates and were successful in enabling the other cellmate to be transported to PeaceHealth St Joseph Medical Center for treatment.