Inmates caught after fleeing work crew

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Two minimum-security inmates escaped a Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office work crew in north Bellingham around 12 p.m. on October 19. One man was found early the morning of October 21 and the other was apprehended at 11:30 a.m. on October 21, according to a Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson.

Christopher J. McCracken, a 24-year-old from Blaine, and Jonathan E. Pickett, a 25-year-old from Ferndale, ignored orders to stop after fleeing near Northwest and West Smith roads, according to a sheriff’s office press release.

On October 20, deputies received a report from a hiker who believed to have seen the suspects around the Gold Mine Trail in Everson.

McCracken was found in the 4200 block of South Pass Road in Everson and booked in Whatcom County Jail at 4:45 a.m. for probable first-degree escape. The sheriff’s office didn’t provide additional info on how Pickett was taken into custody by press time.

McCracken was booked in the work center August 10 and was serving a 266-day sentence for second-degree burglary of a storage unit and possession of controlled substances, according to jail booking data. Pickett was booked into jail October 3 for violating a no-contact order and was scheduled to be released October 31.

Deputies searched for the inmates with a K9, a Bellingham Police Department K9 unit and a U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter flew over the area.

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