PORT ANGELES — A June trial has been set for a Port Angeles man charged with shooting at law enforcement officers at a busy intersection last May.
James Edward Sweet, 37, pleaded not guilty Friday to four counts of first-degree assault with law enforcement and firearm enhancements and one count of attempting to elude with an endangerment enhancement.
His trial is scheduled to begin June 26.
“I expect this to be a three-week trial,” Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Steven Johnson told Clallam County Superior Court Judge Brian Coughenour on Friday.
After failing to stop for a suspected traffic violation in east Port Angeles last May 28, Sweet allegedly sped away in a 1990 Toyota Camry and crashed into another vehicle at the U.S. Highway 101-Monroe Road intersection.
Sweet allegedly shot at Port Angeles Police Officer Whitney Fairbanks from inside the car and later shot at Fairbanks, Officer Dallas Maynard, Cpl. Kori Malone and Clallam County Sheriff’s Sgt. Shaun Minks from a grassy area on the northwest corner of the intersection.
None of the officers or bystanders was injured.
After recovering from gunshot wounds at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Sweet was sent to prison on a Department of Corrections violation.
He has been serving time for a 2014 conviction for attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle and heroin possession at the Monroe Correctional Complex in Snohomish County.
Sweet recently invoked his right to be brought to trial for charges related to the shootout within 120 days.
Sweet is being held on $1 million bail for the alleged officer assaults.
Coughenour signed an order for Sweet to be transported from Monroe to Clallam County for a status hearing May 26.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsula dailynews.com.
