BELLINGHA, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – A man is in custody after a kidnapping in south Bellingham earlier this week.

Bellingham Police spokesperson Lt. Claudia Murphy says officers responded to assist the Washington State Patrol with a kidnapping investigation on Tuesday, May 14.

State Patrol had stopped a vehicle in Skagit County that was believed to have been involved in a kidnapping in Bellingham earlier that day. The female victim inside the car managed to contact a friend, who called 911 to alert troopers to the suspect’s vehicle.

When troopers stopped the car, they found the victim along with two other women, with the suspect driving. The victim says she was forced into the vehicle in the 100 block of Samish Way before the suspect locked the doors and drove south on I-5.

The victim claims the suspect waved a handgun as he drove and threatened to hurt the victim because she had called police earlier in the day.

The suspect reportedly told the victim he would shoot her and “put her in a dumpster.”

State Patrol troopers found the loaded handgun in the glove compartment along with the victim’s ID card. The 25-year-old male suspect was then arrested on kidnapping and felony harassment charges.

He remains at the Whatcom County Jail on $50,000 bail.

Lt. Murphy says the other two women in the car were released at the scene and that it is unknown whether they were victims as well.