Industry News
In February, a snowboarder had a shocking last run of the day when cruising near Brighton Resort, Utah. Loren Richardson was snowboarding in a group of six, which had left the gate at the top of the Great Western chairlift. Richardson was going down a narrow pathway on his snowboard when he happened upon Keith Stebbings, an older man brandishing a shotgun, threatening to “put holes” into him if he traveled down that pathway again.
Richardson had inadvertently gotten onto private property and was not the first person to do so, as the angry property owner had set up camp with a folding chair and a shotgun to prevent people from going on his property. He caught the encounter on his GoPro when he came around a corner and was face to face with Stebbings and the barrel of his rifle. Stebbings gave threats, while Richardson apologized repeatedly, as would anyone with a gun in their face.
Richardson reported the encounter to the Unified Police Department two days later. When officers went to Stebbings’ house, he told them he didn’t know anything about the incident. It was only after he was informed that he was caught on video that he admitted he had become frustrated with skiers and snowboarders trespassing on his property, thus the reason for his actions.
Stebbings was charged on March 28 in the Salt Lake City 3rd District Court with aggravated assault, a third-degree felony, as well as making a threat of violence, which is a class B misdemeanor. Under the threat-of-violence charge, Salt Lake County prosecutors assert that Stebbings threatened to commit bodily injury or death or acted in a way that placed Richardson “in fear of imminent serious bodily injury, substantial bodily injury, or death.”
Stebbings entered a plea deal on June 25 where he was put on probation for 36 months. Additionally, the court demanded he surrender his Winchester rifle, take a gun safety course, and most interestingly, write an essay on ” The use of deadly force in Utah.”
The Salt Lake Tribune was able to obtain a copy of the essay. Below are some of the highlights of what Stebbings wrote:
“I do appreciate the term ‘exhibited’ in the [Utah Criminal Code]. It is far clearer to me than brandished. I was unaware at the time of the incident that exhibiting an unloaded gun on my personal property was unlawful when encountering an individual trespassing.”
“Subsequent to the incident and immediately following the incident my behavior changed through helpful recommendations and insightful advice from officers of the UPD.”
“Additionally, neighbors who have had trespasser experiences have banded together partly on my behalf to approach the Brighton Ski Resort to inquire whether the Resort would be willing to develop a plan and install appropriate diversion mechanisms to alleviate the trespasser problem.”
At the time, Brighton Mayor Dan Knoop acknowledged in an interview with local news station KSL News that while skiers and snowboarders shouldn’t be going into that area, it is a frequent occurrence and that most residents consider it as simply part of living in the backcountry. He said that residents trying to intimidate backcountry skiers or boarders with a gun is simply unacceptable; “It is never acceptable to be brandishing a gun,” Knoop said. “There are other ways of getting your point across. If he shoots someone, he’s going to jail.”
Below you can see the original interaction that Richardson captured and posted to his Instagram account.
