Snowboarder Identified Through Social Media Account as Alleged Hit & Run Perpetrator in Aspen, CO

A snowboarder who fled the scene of a collision on Aspen Mountain, Colorado, on February 24, has been identified using his own social media footage and matching it to video surveillance from Silver Queen Gondola.

Anne Cassidy was hit from behind on Aspen Mountain by an unknown snowboarder on February 24, who fled the scene. Cassidy and her friend, Katy Frisch, were standing on their skis in plain sight when a snowboarder hit her from behind. Cassidy suffered a torn ACL and torn MCL in her right knee, a medial root injury as well as a torn meniscus in her right knee, a torn ACL in her left knee, a shoulder injury, and an injury to her right hand. The snowboarder in question fled the scene as Anne Cassidy was on the groun in pain. Frisch skate-skied after the perpetrator and confronted him and the snowboarder excused himself with “What do you expect? I couldn’t stop; I was on a snowboard” and did not provide identification or report to ski patrol. Cassidy’s attorney Michael Fox filed a lawsuit in Pitkin County against the unknown perpetrator on March 20, but the snowboarder was identified thanks to sleuthing by her attorney. The lawsuit was amended on May 10, identifying the snowboarder as Riky “Eric” Banushi from New York.

Fox subpoenaed video surveillance from SkiCo, asking the lift operating company at Aspen Mountain to turn over all the video surveillance around the Silver Queen Gondola from February 24, taken between 11:30 a.m. and 12:08 p.m. Thanks to photographs taken by another skier who witnessed the collision, it was easy to match the video footage to those cell phone images. The witness had confronted the snowboarder at the time and took the images when the snowboarder refused to report to Aspen Mountain Ski Patrol and started to threaten them with physical assault. The eyewitness, who is not associated with Ms Cassidy, then reported the incident to Ski Patrol.

From the video surveillance at the Silver Queen Gondola, Cassidy’s legal team could single out one snowboarder as the only person at the time in question who matched the cell phone photos. Turnstile data was used to identify one Riku “Eric” Banushi. The legal team than managed to match the video surveillance to footage on Banushi’s Instagram account. In addition, the reels posted online also matched the time frame of the collision with Cassidy.

Despite the positive match, Banushi has not been served yet as Cassidy’s legal team has been unable to track him down. It is a crime to leave the scene of an accident without leaving identification and contact information in the state of Colorado. However, the lawsuit is a civil lawsuit by Ms Cassidy and not a criminal lawsuit. A criminal lawsuit against Banushi would have to be filed by the state of Colorado.