Australian to go on trial for throwing a snowball

SUMMIT COUNTY — A seasonal worker from Australia is scheduled to go on trial Thursday for allegedly injuring an acquaintance when he launched a snowball at her last season at Copper Mountain.

A jury trial is set for 8:30 a.m. in Judge Ed Casias’ county court where Andrew Thistleton will be tried on misdemeanor charges of 3rd degree assault and harassment.

According to a report from the Summit County Sheriff’s Office, Thistleton, 21, threw a snowball at Michelle Oehlert on the morning of Feb. 4 near the employee housing complex at Copper Mountain.

Oehlert told police she was walking to the bus stop when Thistleton and two other people began taunting her before she was hit in the back with a snowball. The impact caused her pain due to a prior injury, she said. Oehlert boarded the bus while the group was still taunting her.

When police interviewed the group, Thistleton denied saying anything offensive to Oehlert, but said he threw the snowball at her and wanted to apologize.

A man who was with Thistleton at the time of the incident said Thistleton didn’t throw the snowball in a harmful way and was just having a good time.

Police gave a summons to Thistleton for harassment and 3rd degree assault. He pleaded not guilty to the charges on July 9. Thistleton’s attorney, Lisa Moses, said if her client is convicted in the case, he may not be able to return to the U.S. to work or go to school.

The Australia native has flown back to Colorado for Thursday’s trial, Moses said.

<I> Nicole Formosa can be reached at (970) 668-4629, or at nformosa@summitdaily.com. </I>