Florida man charged with assault on Utah chairlift after video is posted online
PARK CITY — A 39-year-old Florida man now faces criminal charges in connection with a physical confrontation on a Park City chairlift that was posted on TikTok and garnered millions of views.
The man, from Lutz, Florida, was charged Wednesday in Summit County Justice Court with assault, a class B misdemeanor, and disorderly conduct, a class C misdemeanor.
Police say the assault occurred on Dec. 26 while two men and a woman were riding a chairlift at Park City Mountain Resort. The Park City-based news website Town Lift reports that the victim is a 52-year-old man who is also from Florida.
The confrontation was recorded by people riding on the lift, two chairs behind the men. After it was uploaded to TikTok, it quickly went viral.
The video starts with the 39-year-old man, who is sitting on one end of the chair loudly yelling at the victim, who is sitting in the middle.
“You going to elbow me in my … face?!” the man yells at the victim.
He then is seen punching the victim in the face while yelling several times, “What’s wrong with you?”
Others are heard in the video screaming at the man to stop. He continues his rant, however, telling the victim, “I’m going to embarrass you.”
In the video, the man contends that the victim elbowed him in the face, prompting the angry response. The people filming the video can be heard saying they didn’t see an elbow thrown.
A second video shows the chairlift reaching the top of the mountain where ski patrol detains the suspect. An arraignment is scheduled in court for Feb. 27.
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