Homeless Woman Allegedly Steals Horizon Airlines Truck from BLI Flight Operations Area

A homeless woman who appeared to be suffering from mental health issues reportedly broke into the Alaska/Horizon flight operations at Bellingham International Airport late Tuesday, stole a Horizon Airlines truck and left airport property.

Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office deputies later located the truck in Birch Bay along with the woman, who said her father owns the airport and had given her permission to use the truck.

Kathryn Lemke, 32, was booked into Whatcom County Jail on Wednesday, April 15, on suspicion of second-degree burglary, theft of a motor vehicle and possession of a stolen vehicle. Jail records show she was released later Wednesday on personal recognizance.

Deputies were called to the airport at approximately 1 a.m. Wednesday, Chief Deputy Kevin Hester told The Bellingham Herald in an email. They learned that at approximately 11:30 p.m., airport security noticed an unauthorized vehicle that was driving on airport property. Security responded, but the vehicle was gone before they arrived.

Airport security checked video surveillance and saw an unauthorized person, later identified as Lemke, enter airport grounds near the general aviation terminal and walk to the Alaska/Horizon flight operations area, Hester wrote.

A short time later, a truck belonging to Horizon Airlines was stolen, driven around the taxi ramp and through airport property and exited airport property through one of the gates at approximately 11:40 p.m., Hester reported.

While deputies were investigating, a resident who had heard the initial call on an emergency broadcast scanner reported seeing a white 2016 Chevrolet truck with “Horizon” written on the side in the 7700 block of Birch Bay Drive, according to Hester.

Deputies responded to the area and soon located the truck near Camp Horizon with Lemke still in it, Hester reported. Lemke, who appeared to be suffering from mental health issues, Hester wrote, admitted to entering airport property and to taking the truck to meet a friend in Birch Bay, but said her father owned the airport and gave her permission to use the truck.

Because airport security and communication related to it is federally protected, the Port of Bellingham would not comment on the specifics of Tuesday’s incident, Aviation Director Sunil Harman told The Herald in an email, though he did report that “the trespass was detected and the suspect arrested.”

The incident is the second time in approximately 2½ years that a person has illegally entered airport property after hours. In October 2017, a man jumped a fence, ran onto the airfield and approached an airplane before he was stopped by security and was last seen jumping the fence again to get out.

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