Police in Port Angeles, Wash., have arrested a man accused of using a bulldozer to destroy two homes and power lines.
"A person with a piece of heavy equipment that was very upset, struck two homes in the area and also a truck," Jim Borte with the Clallam County Sheriff's Department told KOMO-TV.
Borte said one of the homes was partially knocked off its foundation.
The suspect, Barry Swegle was booked into the Clallam County Jail for investigation of malicious mischief.
Borte told the Seattle Times that Swegle was “highly agitated” and that “apparently there appears to be an ongoing dispute with some of his neighbors.”
Jesse Major, a 19-year-old student who said his grandmother lives in one of the damaged homes, told the paper that Swegle is known in the neighborhood because he sometimes digs seemingly random holes with a bulldozer late at night.
Keith Haynes lives near one of the damaged homes and said that the suspect took a piece of logging equipment called a skidder and "just went nuts," the Associated Press reported. Haynes said a woman inside one of the homes escaped unharmed, and the other home was unoccupied. Haynes said the houses were demolished.
Both directions of U.S. Highway 101 from Milepost 250.07 near Baker Street to Milepost 250.38 near Monroe Road were closed due to police activity around 1 p.m. PST, but were opened within 20 minutes and some lights were restored. A few side streets remain closed, KIRO-TV reported.
Thousands of customers remain without power from east Port Angeles to Sequim, Mike Howe of the Clallam County Public Utilities District said, according to KING-TV.
A suspect is in custody, but his name has not been released.
Deputies said that there were no injuries reported, according to Q13fox.com.
UPDATE: This version now includes the suspect's name, Barry Swegle.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said the bulldozer was stolen.
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