Meth suspect bagged by bog

What began as a report of littering evolved into a manhunt last Friday when Kitsap County Sheriff deputies came across two men apparently attempting to dump the remnants of a methamphetamine lab in a wooded area of South Kitsap.

A passer-by traveling along Southeast Spencer Avenue called police around 8:15 a.m. when she saw two men in the process of dumping material off the side of the road. When deputies arrived on the scene and attempted to secure the litter bugs for questioning, one man allegedly refused to cooperate.

The man, Gordon Langille, alleg-edly pulled away from the restraining officer, Deputy Mark McVey, throwing them both to the ground. In the ensuing struggle, Langille allegedly tried to grab the deputy’s gun and, failing to do so, ran off into the woods.

“He decided he didn’t want to come with me,” said McVey. “It’s highly unlikely that someone tries to go for your gun. It’s a complete unknown why he did that.”

An emergency traffic call brought in units from all over the region to secure the area, and the department’s K-9 unit was called in to track the man. As it turned out, a nearby swamp ended up doing the deputies’ job for them. Langille was found, nearly drowned, trapped in stagnant water.

A response team from Fire District 7 was called in to pull him out.

“He was actually in water over his head,” said Kitsap County Undersheriff Dennis Bonneville. “We were fortunate there, because it could have been quite bad.”

The other man, Michael Barber, was taken into custody without incident.

Detectives inventoried the dumped material and found what appeared to be the remnants of a meth lab among the garbage. They arrested both men on suspicious of manufacturing methamphetamine. They also booked Langille for first-degree assault.

At their court appearance Monday, Barber was preliminarily charged with meth possession. Langille was still being charged with manufacturing meth, but the assault charge was reduced to a third-degree offense.

Both men will be formally charged today.

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