Bellingham police suspect man of burglary and find duffle bags full of ammo and gun parts

Bellingham Police recovered two duffle bags full of stolen ammunition and gun parts and arrested a man they suspect burglarized a construction site storage container early Saturday in the Irongate neighborhood.

Navjot Singh, 25, was booked into Whatcom County Jail Saturday, Jan. 22, on suspicion of second-degree burglary and obstructing a police officer. Jail records show he is being held in lieu of $40,000 bail.

Officers were called at approximately 1:45 a.m. Saturday to the 2000 block of East Bakerview Road for the report of a burglary in progress, Lt. Claudia Murphy told The Bellingham Herald in an email, after a witness working at a neighboring business spotted someone trying to break into a construction site.

The witness also reported the license plate number of a car believed to be associated with the suspect, Murphy reported, and a check revealed it belonged to Singh.

As police arrived on scene and were checking Singh’s car to see if it was occupied, they heard a noise from nearby bushes, according to Murphy, and they saw Sing jump out and run into a nearby wooded area.

Officers set up a perimeter to find Singh and called for K9 Destro to track, Murphy reported. Destro found a hat, shoes and jacket believed to be Singh’s, but he was not located and the search was called off at 4:21 a.m.

But shortly afterward, a resident in the 4000 block of Kramer Lane called 911 to report someone near their front door, according to Murphy, and police located Singh without shoes and wearing only a tank top and muddy pants, and he was arrested.

Near the scene of the burglary, officers found two duffle bags with stolen rifle and gun magazines, the buttstock of a shotgun and two bags of loaded magazines for an AR15 and handgun, according to a Bellingham Police Department Facebook post about the arrest. Police also found bolt cutters and two cut locks.

Whatcom County Superior Court records show Singh is scheduled to stand jury trial March 21 on malicious mischief and introducing contraband charges after he and two others allegedly broke a window at Whatcom County Jail in an effort to bring in contraband during December of 2020. Singh also is scheduled to stand trial on residential burglary, theft of a motor vehicle, robbery possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of a firearm charges from three other incidents earlier in 2020, court records show.