A man was arrested Tuesday after he was found to be driving a stolen car in the parking lot of a Bellingham hotel, the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday.
On Tuesday around 7 p.m., deputies were on patrol in the parking lot of a hotel in the 4200 block of Meridian Street in Bellingham when they noticed a car driving with no license plates.
After contacting Swinomish Tribal Police, deputies learned that the car was stolen and that the person involved in the theft was 32-year-old Daniel Garcia of Mount Vernon.
Hotel surveillance video showed Garcia driving the car into the hotel parking lot before parking and exiting the car. Once deputies knew which room he was in, they tried to talk him into surrendering.
After a 90-minute dialogue, Garcia exited the room and was taken into custody.
After obtaining a search warrant for the hotel room, deputies found the key to the stolen car and a pair of brass knuckles that they said belonged to Garcia.
Inside the car, deputies found a loaded gun under the driver’s seat. The gun had been reported by the Burlington Police Department to be stolen.
Since Garcia is a convicted felon, he is unable to legally possess firearms.
It was also discovered that Garcia was in violation of an active no contact order, since the petitioner of that order was found in the hotel room with him.
Garcia was arrested and booked into the Whatcom County Jail on charges of felony violation of a no contact order (DV), resisting arrest, possession of a stolen vehicle and possession of a dangerous weapon (brass knuckles), unlawful possession of a firearm in the first degree, and possession of a stolen firearm.