Angry neighbor goes on the rampage in a BULLDOZER as he destroys four homes and cuts power to thousands in dispute over fence



A Washington man fed up with his neighbors went on a bulldozing rampage on Friday, damaging four homes, knocking one off its foundation and cutting power to thousands of people.



Barry Swegle, 51, had a long-running dispute with his neighbors over a fence line he felt was too close to his home in Port Angeles, west of Seattle, and simply 'went nuts,' neighbors aid.



Mr Swegle was arrested on Friday on charges of malicious mischief following the incident.

Destroyed: Barry Alan Swegle used a bulldozer to crush this truck and knock this house off its foundation in a rampage on Friday in Port Angeles, Wash.

Machine: Sheriffs said the agitated Washington man used this International Harvester TD-25, similar to a Caterpillar D-9, to destroy his neighbors' homes

Damage: Four homes were damaged in the rampage and the man ended up cutting power to thousands of people

No one was injured in the rampage.



Sheriff's spokesman Jim Borte said investigators were told that Swegle and his neighbors had a long-running dispute, but it's not clear over what.

The rampage knocked over a utility pole and left a pickup truck destroyed, and the downed power lines were preventing authorities from fully evaluating the damage to the homes.



Borte said the machine was an International Harvester TD-25, similar to a Caterpillar D-9. Investigators were looking into whether the man owned it.

Arrest: After the destruction, Barry Alan Swegle, 51, was arrested on Friday and charged with malicious mischief

Power: A 70-foot utility pole was knocked over during the rampage, which meant thousands of people were left without power

Complications: With the power lines down, crews were prevented from assessing the damage to the homes

Fear: A pick up truck was also damaged in the rampage on Friday, that left neighbors scrambling for safety their home

Keith Haynes lives near one of the damaged homes and told the Peninsula Daily News that the man 'just went nuts.'



Haynes said a woman inside one of the homes escaped unharmed.



'He took a skidder and took out two houses,' Haynes said. 'I mean demolished.'

A skidder is a bulldozer-like device used in logging. The News reported that records indicated Barry Swegle may have operated a logging company, founded in 1997.



Another neighbor, Judith Walters, always witnessed the bulldozer go through a home.

'I saw a tractor, out of control, I thought. And it plowed into the white house over here,' Walters told KIRO-TV.

'And she was in the doorway with her dog, her little Chihuahua and yeah, I was screaming at her at the top of my lungs, "Get out of the house!"'



At one point thousands of people were without power, but within a few hours it had been restored to all but 200 customers, said Clallam County Public Utility District spokesman Mike Howe.

