Birch Bay woman pleads guilty to second-degree assault

Kathy Jo Andersen, 64, pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon after an incident in which she ran after her Birch Bay neighbor with a hunting knife in December. Andersen was sentenced to 12 months in prison and ordered not to come within 1,000 feet of the victim for the next 10 years, according to Whatcom County Superior Court records.

Andersen pleaded guilty May 27, nearly two months before her jury trial that was scheduled for July 19.

Carrying a large hunting knife, Andersen confronted her neighbor in the victim’s yard as the neighbor was leaving for work in the early morning of December 3, 2020. Andersen chased the victim with a large hunting knife near the 4700 block of Birch Bay-Lynden Road near the intersection of Harborview Road. The neighbor ran to her car, closing the door which Andersen then tried to force open. The neighbor told police she feared for her life during the incident. The neighbor had previously reported Andersen’s erratic behavior before to the police.