31-year-old Thomas Proesel was identified as the man who pushed a snowboarder off an Aspen Highlands chairlift into a 25-foot drop January 17th. Proesel, who is reportedly suffering from severe mental illness, was arrested and charged with felony assault and misdemeanor reckless endangerment. Aspen/Snowmass photo.
According to The Aspen Times, the man who deliberately pushed Aspen snowboarder Seth Beckton off the Loge Peak chairlift at Aspen Highlands January 17th was identified as 31-year-old Thomas Proesel yesterday. Proesel has apparently been suffering from severe mental illness and had spent the past three weeks in a psychiatric hospital in Grand Junction, Colorado before being arrested and charged with felony assault and misdemeanor reckless endangerment. Proesel was identified by video cameras at the base of the ski area and the RFID record of his season pass, which tracked his movements on the day he shoved Beckton off the chairlift following a verbal argument in which Proesel (pictured below) thought the snowboarder was laughing at him.
Beckton fell 25 feet to the ground below and landed on his face, but was extremely fortunate to land in a pocket of deep powder and emerge from the incident uninjured. Strangely, neither Beckton nor the third passenger on the chairlift reported the incident until late in the day – it was a powder day, after all, and Beckton wasn't injured – so authorities had trouble identifying the assailant.
Proesel, who had spent the past several weeks in a psychiatric hospital on a mental health hold after voluntarily handing himself over to sheriff's deputies, was released on conditions that his father and uncle never let him leave their sight as they undertake a two-day journey to a residential psychiatric treatment facility in Tennessee, where he is supposed to undergo several months of treatment.
About The Author
stash member Ryan Dunfee
Former Managing Editor at Teton Gravity Research, current Senior Contributor, current professional hippy at the Sierra Club, and avid weekend recreationalist.
DIGITALDEATH
February 15th, 2016
great mugshot