BELLINGHAM — A Bellingham transient man is facing hate crime charges after he allegedly yelled a homophobic slur at another man and later stabbed him outside the Horseshoe Cafe on Halloween.
Bellingham Police booked Charles Nicholas Shipley into Whatcom County Jail on Sunday, Oct. 31, on suspicion of first-degree assault and malicious harassment (a hate crime).
Whatcom County Superior Court records filed Wednesday, Nov. 3, show Shipley has been charged with both crimes and bail was set at $20,000.
Officers responded to the 100 block of East Holly Street at 7:23 p.m. Sunday for the report of a stabbing, according to the Bellingham Police Department’s incident log.
The victim told police that Shipley called him a homophobic slur, told him he should die and left toward the alley, court documents state.
The victim reported he confronted Shipley, who responded by pulling out a knife and jabbing it at the victim, striking him in the chin, according to documents. Shipley then left north through the alley.
Two other witnesses told similar accounts of the attack to police, documents state.
Police located Shipley walking away from the area of the Horseshoe Cafe and took him into custody, documents state, and the victim identified him as the alleged attacker from a photo.
Officers found two knives in Shipley’s possession when he was arrested, according to documents.
According to FBI hate crime statistics from 2019, the most current available, there were six bias-motivated incidents in Bellingham, one of which was motivated by sexual orientation and five motivated by race, ethnicity or ancestry. Six additional bias-motivated incidents occurred in different jurisdictions in Whatcom County in 2019, according to the report.
(c)2021 The Bellingham Herald (Bellingham, Wash.)
Visit The Bellingham Herald (Bellingham, Wash.) at www.bellinghamherald.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
