Posted on 05/10/2013 3:19:54 PM PDT by Stoat
PORT ANGELES, Wash. -- Witnesses say a man upset with his neighbors went on a rampage with a bulldozer-like piece of logging machinery in a Port Angeles neighborhood, damaging four homes and knocking out power to thousands of people.
The Clallam County Sheriff's Office says it does not appear that anyone was injured during the incident that happened just after noon Friday along Pioneer Road. The suspect was arrested.
"A person with a piece of heavy equipment that was very upset, struck (four) homes in the area and also a truck," said Jim Borte with the Clallam County Sheriff's Department.
Keith Haynes lives near one of the damaged homes and told the Peninsula Daily News the man took a piece of logging equipment called a skidder and "just went nuts."
Haynes said a woman inside one of the homes escaped unharmed, and the other home was unoccupied. Haynes said the houses were demolished.
Haynes said a new Ford truck also was damaged in the incident.
“It was like a war zone,” Haynes, a former law enforcement officer who has lived in that neighborhood for two years, told the paper.
(edit)
Meth, not math. ;>)
My sympathies, however, to the homeowners
When nobody showed up to your “Barn Raising”..it was time to move on...she called it self Policing...*S*
I had some company show up so I was away for a while. Gramma and Grampa built a resort at Heart O The Hills .He packed people in on horses from there. They used to have ice skating on lake Dawn which Grampa built and was named after my aunt. He used to run the school bus in the 30’s I believe. I know mom used to ride on it when she was little. I’ve never been up there but some day I’m going to take off and go check it out. I’ve seen some pictures and it sure is beautiful country up there. They came to California right after the war so it has been a while.
It has to be, or at least a conservative. Libs and Rats aren't smart enough to operate heavy equipment.
LOL - true.
Sorry not covered, sounds like an "act of God."
(There's also a new video report at this link)
Man smashes homes in bulldozer rampage before arrest - Q13 FOX News
CLALLAM- COUNTY — The images don’t do it justice. A man on a rampage driving a bulldozer did hundreds of thousands of dollars damage in just minutes. Smashing three homes, one ford truck, a boat and tractor before Clallam County deputies finally put a stop to it.
The county Undersheriff, Ron Peregrin said, “This of course is above what we’re normally used to and someone just snapped and jumped on a bulldozer and started taking out people’s houses.”
The sheriff’s office says the man responsible is 51 year-old Barry Swegle. He has a lengthy rap sheet that includes everything from burglary to stalking and public indecency, and now this.
Peregrin said, “Probably numerous malicious mischief first degree charges depending on what comes out of the interviews we could even have attempted homicide.”
Luckily no one was hurt and no one had a better view than Barbara Porter. First, she heard the bulldozer rumbling.
“So I thought Barry is ready to do something he shouldn’t do,” Port said. “I watched out my window and I saw him get a hold of Dave’s mobile home and he pushed it into mine and then he went over and drove over his pickup and smashed it all up. Then he went down to Dan’s house and started tearing it up.”
Barbara’s home was also damaged but the carnage left her sense of humor intact.
“You can open up the bedroom window and get some tools out of the shed,” she laughed. “ It’s so close,”
The entire incident didn’t surprise her one bit.
“We all said one of these days Barry is going to take that dang cat and he’s going to start tearing up people’s property and that’s what he did.”
PORT ANGELES, Wash. (AP) - A judge has set bail at $1 million for a man accused of destroying three homes with a bulldozer during a rampage on Washington's Olympic Peninsula.
The Peninsula Daily News reports that Clallam County Superior Court Judge Erik Rohrer scheduled a hearing Wednesday during which formal charges are expected to be filed against 51-year-old Barry Swegle.
Swegle was arrested Friday for investigation of assault and malicious mischief after neighbors told police he climbed aboard a bulldozer and took out the homes, crushed a pickup truck and knocked down a utility pole, cutting power to thousands. No injuries were reported.
Investigators say he was apparently motivated by a long-running property-line dispute.
Swegle told the judge Monday that he would try to hire his own lawyer.
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