A 17-year-old Ferndale teen was lured back to the home of an ex-girlfriend where he had stolen a .22 pistol weeks earlier only to find himself being beaten and left pleading for his life. Fortunately, 911 dispatch received an anonymous call reporting that residents at the location were yelling and fighting.
The assault occurred Sunday, December 13th, at a residence in the 7900 block of Lavender Lane (refer to map below) in retaliation for the theft of the pistol.
According to information released today, December 15th, by the Whatcom County Sheriff’s office,
During the assault the victim was punched, choked, kicked and had ripped jewelry off his person. He was taken to a shed where he was stripped naked and then ordered to get into a chest freezer containing rotten food. The suspect then doused him with a garden hose causing the victim to become hypothermic. The victim explained that he was in fear for his life and was too weak to fight back. The victim was eventually allowed into the house and told to get into the shower to warm up. Just as deputies arrived at the house the victim had been handcuffed and told by the suspects that “they had further plans for him”.
AdvertisementClick for more information
AdvertisementClick for more information
The two suspects, Larry G. Whitman, a 54-year-old adult and a 17-year-old juvenile male, who assaulted the victim were arrested and booked for first-degree kidnapping, first-degree robbery and second-degree assault. Whitman was booked into the Whatcom County jail and the juvenile was booked into Whatcom County juvenile detention.
The juvenile male who was assaulted was also taken into custody and booked into juvenile detention for theft of a firearm and felony possession of a firearm. The stolen .22 pistol was located hidden in a vehicle in the 2300 block of Douglas Road. A 14-year-old juvenile male was arrested at that location and booked into juvenile detention for possession of a stolen firearm.
[easy2map id=”49″]