A 34-year-old man was taken into custody last week after he allegedly stalked a 19-year-old woman who was running on a trail in the Raptor Ridge area near Bellingham.
The Bellingham Herald reported the woman was running with her dogs on Friday afternoon from the North Chuckanut Trail head when she saw a man make his way down the same trail. She then turned around and saw the man walking toward her.
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The woman then pulled out her pepper spray and got off the trail to let the man get ahead of her. According to a report, the man passed the woman a third time.
When one of her dogs started barking at the man, he stopped and looked at her. After the woman asked if he was all right, the man didn't answer and walked toward her.
The Bellingham Herald reported that the woman told the man she would spray him if he came closer and the man replied, "Do it." She warned him twice.
The woman told police the man then lunged at her and started grabbing her. She then sprayed him in the face with her pepper spray and he ran away. She then called 911.
Deputies arrived at the trail and found the man, who matched the woman's description. The man reportedly told deputies he passed the woman four times but denied trying to assault her.
The woman later identified him and he was taken into custody. He was booked into jail on suspicion of stalking, fourth-degree assault and resisting arrest.