landusepbb
03-26-2005, 06:12 PM
One for our side! :D
Moab man is convicted of assault after off-road vehicle confrontation
By Lisa Church
Special to The Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
MONTICELLO - A jury convicted a Moab man Thursday of aggravated assault in an altercation last April between off-road enthusiasts and nearby landowners.
Alexander Arbelo testified Thursday that he was acting to protect friend John Rzeczycki and feared for his own safety when he ran toward a Colorado driver while wielding a metal fence pole.
Rzeczycki had approached a group of drivers on the Coyote Ugly trail in northern San Juan County and, according to witnesses from the group, grabbed the front of Nancy Bailey's vehicle, then moved in front of the Jeep again as she attempted to maneuver around him. Bailey's vehicle pinned Rzeczycki's foot under a front tire, forcing him to the ground and injuring his knee.
Bailey told jurors Wednesday that she “froze” when Rzeczycki blocked her path. She said she could not see that her tire was trapping Rzeczycki's foot.
Rzeczycki testified Wednesday that he stopped Bailey to take photographs documenting off-road abuse of the area and to alert her to a sign posted near the trail's exit encouraging drivers not to drive Coyote Ugly.
Arbelo, 53, said he heard his friend screaming, picked up the metal pole and ran to his aid. He said “two or three” people were standing around but no one was helping Rzeczycki.
“I figured there was an incident going on that could become violent. I told [Bailey] to back off,” he said. “I showed [the pole] to her to make sure she knew I was capable of defending myself.”
Arbelo's attorney, Rosalie Reilly, urged jurors to acquit him.
She said that Bailey “minimized” her own culpability in her testimony about the incident and Arbelo acted reasonably to protect his friend.
San Juan County Attorney Craig Halls asked jurors to decide who the true aggressor was in the April 9 incident, which he described as “Jeepers accosted by a bunch of people who came running at them from the wash.”
Describing Rzeczycki's actions as “ludicrous,” Halls said jurors could only accept Arbelo's defense if they believed that Bailey was “using her Jeep as a weapon.” Bailey was simply trying to maneuver around Rzeczycki and did not intentionally injure him, Halls said.
“You only have the right to use deadly force when you're protecting yourself from deadly force or your friend from deadly force,” Halls told jurors. “You don't have the right to run up to someone's window with a metal bar when it's something as insignificant as this.”
The four-man, four-woman jury deliberated for about two hours before reaching a verdict Thursday afternoon.
Arbelo faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced on May 2, but 7th District Judge Lyle Anderson said after the verdict was read that Arbelo will likely serve no prison time.
“This is not a case where it's likely that I would sentence him to prison,” Anderson said, adding that he wants to know more about Arbelo before deciding his fate. He ordered Arbelo to report to adult probation and parole officials for a routine pre-sentencing evaluation. Anderson said he will rely, in part, on that report when deciding Arbelo's sentence.
lchurch@citlink.net
http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_2621474
Moab man is convicted of assault after off-road vehicle confrontation
By Lisa Church
Special to The Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
MONTICELLO - A jury convicted a Moab man Thursday of aggravated assault in an altercation last April between off-road enthusiasts and nearby landowners.
Alexander Arbelo testified Thursday that he was acting to protect friend John Rzeczycki and feared for his own safety when he ran toward a Colorado driver while wielding a metal fence pole.
Rzeczycki had approached a group of drivers on the Coyote Ugly trail in northern San Juan County and, according to witnesses from the group, grabbed the front of Nancy Bailey's vehicle, then moved in front of the Jeep again as she attempted to maneuver around him. Bailey's vehicle pinned Rzeczycki's foot under a front tire, forcing him to the ground and injuring his knee.
Bailey told jurors Wednesday that she “froze” when Rzeczycki blocked her path. She said she could not see that her tire was trapping Rzeczycki's foot.
Rzeczycki testified Wednesday that he stopped Bailey to take photographs documenting off-road abuse of the area and to alert her to a sign posted near the trail's exit encouraging drivers not to drive Coyote Ugly.
Arbelo, 53, said he heard his friend screaming, picked up the metal pole and ran to his aid. He said “two or three” people were standing around but no one was helping Rzeczycki.
“I figured there was an incident going on that could become violent. I told [Bailey] to back off,” he said. “I showed [the pole] to her to make sure she knew I was capable of defending myself.”
Arbelo's attorney, Rosalie Reilly, urged jurors to acquit him.
She said that Bailey “minimized” her own culpability in her testimony about the incident and Arbelo acted reasonably to protect his friend.
San Juan County Attorney Craig Halls asked jurors to decide who the true aggressor was in the April 9 incident, which he described as “Jeepers accosted by a bunch of people who came running at them from the wash.”
Describing Rzeczycki's actions as “ludicrous,” Halls said jurors could only accept Arbelo's defense if they believed that Bailey was “using her Jeep as a weapon.” Bailey was simply trying to maneuver around Rzeczycki and did not intentionally injure him, Halls said.
“You only have the right to use deadly force when you're protecting yourself from deadly force or your friend from deadly force,” Halls told jurors. “You don't have the right to run up to someone's window with a metal bar when it's something as insignificant as this.”
The four-man, four-woman jury deliberated for about two hours before reaching a verdict Thursday afternoon.
Arbelo faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced on May 2, but 7th District Judge Lyle Anderson said after the verdict was read that Arbelo will likely serve no prison time.
“This is not a case where it's likely that I would sentence him to prison,” Anderson said, adding that he wants to know more about Arbelo before deciding his fate. He ordered Arbelo to report to adult probation and parole officials for a routine pre-sentencing evaluation. Anderson said he will rely, in part, on that report when deciding Arbelo's sentence.
lchurch@citlink.net
http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_2621474