Camas City Councilor Svilarich pleads guilty in 2024 altercation

A Camas City Council member was sentenced last month to 10 days of community service after he was accused of pointing a gun at a fisherman and throwing a rock over an argument about a littered cigarette butt in August 2024.

Court documents show that John Svilarich, 68, pleaded guilty Dec. 18 in Clark County Superior Court to one count of fourth-degree assault, a gross misdemeanor, stemming from the confrontation on the Washougal River Greenway.

As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors amended a felony charge of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon to the lesser charge. A second charge of reckless endangerment was dismissed.

Judge Christine Hayes sentenced Svilarich to 364 days but suspended all but 10 days of the time for two years, provided he complies with probation conditions. Svilarich is allowed to serve the remaining 10 days as 180 hours of community service, court records show.

The charges originated from an incident on Aug. 31, 2024, involving a dispute with a fisherman, Daniel Beaudoin. Initial allegations suggested a firearm was involved, but in his written plea statement, Svilarich admitted only to throwing a rock.

Under the terms of his probation, Svilarich must complete an anger control class, court records show. He may still own and possess firearms.

The city of Camas’ website still lists Svilarich as a council member. He was elected to the Camas City Council’s at-large seat in 2023 and is serving a term that expires Dec. 31, 2027. A recall effort in mid-2025 spurred by the criminal case did not make it to the ballot.

Svilarich is not to have contact with Beaudoin for two years, court records show.

On the day of the incident, Camas police responded at 7:52 a.m. to reports of a brandishing near the Washougal River Greenway. Beaudoin called 911 to report Svilarich threw a rock off the pedestrian bridge and it landed near him. He said Svilarich later pointed a gun at him, according to court records.

Beaudoin said he’d been fishing on the south bank of the Washougal River when Svilarich began yelling at him about a discarded cigarette butt. They both yelled and swore at each other, he said. Svilarich then walked away and over the pedestrian bridge, court records state.

Another witness said they saw Svilarich look over the railing of the bridge a few times before a 6-to-8-inch-rock fell roughly 50 feet from the bridge, according to court records.

Beaudoin and Svilarich continued to argue. Beaudoin said Svilarich pulled out a handgun and pointed it at him when he approached Svilarich, court records state.

In April, Svilarich said he had never considered stepping down from his council seat.

“It never even entered my mind,” Svilarich previously told The Columbian. “I believe it will come out in court that I’ve done nothing wrong.”

On Wednesday, he told The Columbian that “it’s a sad day when someone gets arrested for throwing a rock in the river.”

“It wasn’t my best day, but I still don’t feel I did anything wrong,” Svilarich said. “I think we’ve all learned things, but it’s time to move on to more important work.”