A 63-year-old man is facing a second-degree felony stemming from an incident at Deer Valley Resort last month.
Last week, the Summit County Attorney’s Office charged Paul H. Kauffman of Connecticut with aggravated assault. Charging documents accuse Kauffman of tackling a male skier from Arizona after a “short verbal argument” in mid-March. Kauffman alleged he was cut off by a different skier in the man’s party.
The man still had his skis on and “felt a pop in his knee when he fell to the snow” after Kauffman allegedly jumped on his back and landed on top of him. The man suffered serious injuries, including a multidirectional tear of the medial meniscus, an ACL tear, a partial tear of the fibular collateral ligament and a minimally impacted fracture, according to court documents.
Kauffman was summoned to appear at 11 a.m. on May 30 in the Third District Court. Lance Bastian, Kauffman’s defense attorney, declined to comment on the case.
A second-degree felony in Utah carries a punishment of one to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.