Suspect in bulldozer rampage pleads guilty

Barry Swegle, 52, of Port Angeles, pled guilty May 23 to seven counts of malicious mischief first degree — Class B felonies — and three counts of gross misdemeanor reckless endangerment.

Barry Swegle, 52, of Port Angeles, pled guilty May 23 to seven counts of malicious mischief first degree — Class B felonies — and three counts of gross misdemeanor reckless endangerment.

Swegle was accused of using his bulldozer to shove an unoccupied manufactured home into a neighbor’s lot, damaging the neighbor’s residence. He also was accused of flattening a Ford pickup, running into and breaking a PUD power pole, damaging two other occupied residences, a tractor and barn and endangering lives of persons in those homes and surrounding areas.

John Troberg, of the Clallam County Prosecutor’s Office, said Swegle faces 22-29 months in prison at sentencing.

“Victims have expressed their desire to bring felony charges of assault and significantly more prison time,” Troberg said. “We have listened to their concerns, but our felony attorneys have exhaustively researched the possible charges, including assault and attempted murder, and the legal and factual likelihood of convictions on those charges. We concluded that we cannot bring those charges as not supported by admissible evidence.”