YOUR AD HERE »

Florida man arrested after allegedly attacking victim with ski pole, knocking out teeth

A Florida man is facing an assault charge after allegedly striking a man in the face with a ski pole at Keystone Resort earlier this month.

Guido Diaz, 42, was arrested on a charge of second-degree assault after a violent confrontation on the ski slopes left another man with broken teeth and cuts on his face, according to an arrest affidavit.

On April 2, deputies with the Summit County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to Keystone to respond to a fight. The deputies spoke at the Keystone Medical Center with the individuals, who gave conflicting reports of the incident.



The alleged victim in the case said he was snowboarding down the Frenchman run through a blind curve and over a peak. He told deputies he saw Diaz and two children standing below the peak and was able to make a quick turn to narrowly avoid hitting one of Diaz’s daughters. He called the incident a “close call,” though he said nobody was knocked over, and said he turned around to say he was sorry.

The man told deputies he continued about 300 yards down the hill and dropped onto his knees facing uphill to wait for his girlfriend. Once she joined him, the man said Diaz skied by his left side and struck him in the face with a ski pole. The man alleged the strike was intentional and that Diaz said, “That’s what you get for doing that to my daughter.”



The man said he could feel broken teeth in his mouth and spit them onto the snow. He continued to argue with Diaz until ski patrol arrived, according to the report.

The man’s girlfriend told deputies a similar story while at the medical center. She said that while she was speaking with him, a ski pole slashed across his face “like it was wound up,” breaking her boyfriend’s goggles, splitting his lip and knocking out several teeth. Both the victim and his girlfriend said he was hit with the bottom of the ski pole.

When questioned by deputies, Diaz said the snowboarder hit his daughter when he was coming down the mountain, so he skied after him to confront him about the incident, according to the affidavit. He told deputies he was not a good skier and lost control as he approached the man. Diaz said he attempted to regain his balance with his hands out in front of him and fell into the other man. He continued to say that he hit him with the handle of his ski pole but that it was an accident.

The victim told police Diaz never fell into him or fell onto the ground after striking him. The girlfriend reported seeing Diaz standing just downhill from them afterward attempting to put one of his skis back on.

The report noted that the victim had one tooth that was torn out at the root along with three other broken teeth. The man also had lacerations to his upper and lower lip, which were “consistent with the angle in which the basket of the ski pole would have contacted” his face. Deputies said the lens was missing from the man’s goggles, and there was a small scuff mark on his helmet.

Deputies placed Diaz under arrest and took him to the county jail in Breckenridge. Diaz is scheduled to make a court appearance on bond May 26 at the Summit County Justice Center.


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

As a Summit Daily News reader, you make our work possible.

Summit Daily is embarking on a multiyear project to digitize its archives going back to 1989 and make them available to the public in partnership with the Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection. The full project is expected to cost about $165,000. All donations made in 2023 will go directly toward this project.

Every contribution, no matter the size, will make a difference.