SEQUIM — James McCauley, 60, co-owner of InsideOut Solutions of Sequim, faces a January trial on a charge of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon and hit-and-run resulting in injury of a pedestrian, stemming from an Oct. 18 incident in downtown Port Angeles.
McCauley’s wife, Patricia McCauley, 56, until last year the tourism coordinator for the city of Sequim and a former tourism coordinator for the city of Port Townsend, has been charged with giving false or misleading statements to a public servant, in connection with the same incident.
Both McCauleys declined to comment Wednesday.
James McCauley’s two-day trial is set for Jan. 11 in Clallam County Superior Court, while Patricia McCauley is scheduled for arraignment in Superior Court on Friday.
Assault with a deadly weapon is a Class B felony punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment and/or a $20,000 fine plus restitution and assessments; second-degree assault with a deadly weapon is a Class C felony with a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
On the charge of false or misleading statements, a gross misdemeanor, Patricia McCauley faces up to one year in jail or a $5,000 fine or both if convicted.
Police report
The Port Angeles Police Department report says that at 12:44 p.m. Oct 18, James McCauley was driving his Volkswagen Jetta eastbound on First Street when he came to the Peabody Street intersection, where Sierra Swarm, 32, of Port Angeles was walking across First Street at the crosswalk.
The Jetta hit Swarm, and James McCauley, with Patricia in the passenger seat, fled the scene, Port Angeles Police Officer John Nutter said in his report.
Swarm was treated for cuts and bruises at Olympic Medical Center and released the same day.
Later that afternoon, the McCauleys and their car were found near Sequim; they were brought back to the Port Angeles Police Department.
James McCauley declined to make a statement, but Patricia McCauley told police he had stopped for a red light at First and Peabody; when it turned green, Swarm and his wife, Karen Swarm, were in front of the Jetta.
“My husband started moving forward towards them, but they wouldn’t get out of the way,” the police report quoted Patricia McCauley as saying.
“All of the sudden the guy jumped up onto our hood and started hitting our windshield, which really scared us.
“We took off but never called the police. We didn’t think it was a vehicle/pedestrian collision because he jumped onto our hood and was hitting our car.”
Nutter said in his report that, after hearing Patricia’s statement, he looked again at the Jetta “and was unable to observe any physical evidence that would corroborate her story.
“There did not appear to be any marks on the hood other than the one dent that was well back from the front edge . . . it appeared that [James] McCauley intentionally accelerated his vehicle into Swarm as he crossed in the crosswalk.”
The McCauleys have together owned InsideOut, a marketing firm, for 15 years. They have lived in the Dungeness Valley for 26 years.
________
Sequim-Dungeness Valley reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
