Man pleads guilty to multiple crimes resulting from 2023 hit and run incident when gun and drugs were found

BELLINGHAM, Wash. — Joshua Lowell Lewis, age 41, pled guilty to multiple felony charges in Whatcom County Superior Court and was sentenced on February 26th to 60 months (5 years) in prison with credit for time already spent in custody prior to sentencing. The charges pled to and each sentence (to be served concurrently) are as follow.

unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to manufacture or deliver (methamphetamine) – 60 months
2nd-degree unlawful possession of a firearm – 55.5 months
theft of a motor vehicle – 50 months

Lewis was also facing lessor charges in this and other cases that were dropped.

The charges were the result of an arrest following a hit and run incident on the evening of September 25th when Bellingham Police Department (BPD) officers were conducting a traffic stop and Lewis, a passenger in the stopped vehicle, jumped into the driver’s seat and attempted to drive off.

According to an affidavit of probable cause filed in court by prosecutors, a BPD officer stopped the vehicle in the 4200 block of Meridian Street about 9pm on September 25th after noticing the rear license plate belonged to a different vehicle.

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While an officer was talking with the driver outside the vehicle, Lewis, 1 of 2 passengers, moved into the driver’s seat and attempted to drive away. The vehicle went over and down an embankment crashing into curbing at the bottom and came to an abrupt stop. The other passenger was injured in the collision.

The passenger then fled on foot with the officer in pursuit. According to law enforcement radio transmissions at the time, other BPD officers responded and the man was taken into custody a short distance away.

A BPD K9 unit alerted officers to the possible presence of narcotics. A warrant search was performed on the vehicle which located the following items.