Warrant issued for New Mexico horse rider who threatened hikers on Colorado trail
The Summit County Sheriff's Office recently issued an arrest warrant for a woman who threatened to trample and shoot four hikers on a trail near Frisco.
The incident happened in July and was immediately reported by the group, according to information provided by the sheriff's office. But the case went cold - until a recent phone call.
The woman was on horseback on the Meadow Creek Trail northwest of the town. The trail is open to both hikers and horse riders.
The encounter turned sour when the hikers told the woman her dog should be on a leash, according to the sheriff's office. The woman responded with threats, then homophobic slurs as she rode away.
The hikers told investigators they never saw a gun, but they were left shaken and upset, and concerned for their safety.
A photo was taken of the horse rider. It did not directly identify the woman. But investigators sent the image to a western registry of livestock brands in an attempt to identify the horse's brand.
It worked.
The brand was traced to a woman in New Mexico. The sheriff's office declined to identify the woman. But a spokesman did confirm a sheriff's office detective recently conversed with the woman by phone. During the interview, the woman reportedly referred to the members of the hiking group as "old fat woman," "the idiot," and "Peter Pan," according to the sheriff's office. The woman also claimed she was acting in self-defense.
The woman is now wanted on four counts of misdemeanor menacing, four counts of bias motivated crimes, and one count of reckless endangerment, per the sheriff's office.
Colorado lawmakers introduced the current bias-motivated statutes in May 2021. The bill became law within six weeks.
The Meadow Creek Trail is in the White River National Forest. Most national forest trails do not require a dog to be on a leash, provided the dog is well-behaved and under control, according to USFS trail websites. Dogs are required to be on a leash in USFS campgrounds.
