By David Rasbach / The Bellingham Herald
A 29-year-old Mukilteo man is suspected of breaking two rotunda windows of the Whatcom County Courthouse in Bellingham on Sunday morning and telling law enforcement he did it so he would go to jail as a “last option” to get a place to stay.
The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office booked Kyle Paul Ruggirello into Whatcom County Jail on suspicion of second-degree malicious mischief and first-degree burglary on Sunday, May 17.
Sheriff’s deputies and Bellingham Police Department officers responded at 11:30 a.m. to the courthouse for a report that a man was throwing rocks at the rotunda windows, had broken one out and made entry into the courthouse, which was closed, according to to information provided to The Bellingham Herald in an email from Chief Deputy Kevin Hester.
Law enforcement arrived to find Ruggirello sitting on a bench in the courthouse, Hester wrote.
Ruggirello was ordered to come out, and he complied, Hester reported. Ruggirello reportedly told deputies and officers that this was his last option to find a place to stay and knew that he would be arrested and taken to jail.
At least two windows were damaged by Ruggirello, according to Hester, who added that damages were estimated to be “well above” $4,000.
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