Hit-and-Run Snowboarder Sentenced to 45 Days More Than 2 Years After Causing Collision at Aspen Mountain, CO

A snowboarder who fled the scene after seriously injuring a skier on Aspen Mountain, Colorado, in 2024 has been sentenced to 45 days in jail. Eric “Riku” Banushi was convicted by a Pitkin County jury on Friday, August 28, 2026 of third-degree assault, reckless endangerment, and violating the Colorado Ski Safety Act following the February 2024 collision — an unusually severe outcome for what began as a skier-on-skier crash.

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Banushi struck Aspen local Anne Cassidy from behind near the Gent’s Ridge lift, then continued down the mountain without stopping to exchange information or check on her, a violation of the Colorado Ski Safety Act’s hit-and-run provisions. Cassidy had just unloaded from the lift when she felt a jolt from behind that caused her knees to “crumble like a lawn chair,” according to court documents. She suffered ACL tears in both knees, an MCL tear, a medial root injury, and torn meniscus in her right knee, plus injuries to her shoulder and right hand — injuries serious enough to sideline her from skiing, tennis, mountain biking, and hiking for two years. “The collision upended my life and my family’s life for two years,” Cassidy told The Aspen Times. “Every part of my athleticism has been impacted.”

Cassidy had been stopped on the side of the slope at the time, talking to her friend Katy Frisch when the incident occurred. Frisch skate-skied after the perpetrator and confronted him while a bystander, who is not associated with Ms Cassidy, also approached Banushi. After Banushi threatened the unidentified eyewitness with physical assault, they captured footage of the snowboarder and reported him to Ski Patrol. Initially, Cassidy’s attorney Michael Fox filed a lawsuit in Pitkin County against an unknown perpetrator. Fox subpoenaed video surveillance from SkiCo, asking the lift operating company at Aspen Mountain to turn over all the video surveillance around the Silver Queen Gondola from February 24, taken between 11:30 a.m. and 12:08 p.m. Due to “Skier ID” technology on Aspen’s ski passes, the identity of the snowboarder could be confirmed from the surveillance footage. Banushi’s own social media posts from the day also confirmed his identity as the perpetrator. The Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office then took up the criminal investigation, and the 9th Judicial District Attorney’s Office filed charges.

• Related: Snowboarder Identified Through Social Media Account as Alleged Hit-and-Run Perpetrator at Aspen Mountain, CO

The criminal case against Banushi took nearly two years to reach trial. Prosecutors filed charges in September 2024, but the case stalled when Banushi failed to appear for a scheduled court date that November, prompting a warrant for his arrest. The warrant was later dropped after he finally appeared in court in May. Prosecutors offered him a plea agreement on September 9, and a Pitkin County judge set an October 22 hearing for Banushi to decide whether to accept it or take the case to trial. He ultimately rejected the deal, and the case proceeded to trial, where the jury convicted him on all three charges.

Sheriff Michael Buglione called the outcome rare, noting that criminal consequences for ski collisions are uncommon. District Attorney Megan Machak said what set this case apart wasn’t the collision itself, but Banushi leaving the scene. “The Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office, when they reviewed the case, saw that it was a violation of the Ski Hit and Run Act, but it was also reckless endangerment and assault because of the defendant’s reckless actions on the mountain that day,” she said. Banushi’s attorney, William Palmer, declined to comment on the verdict.

Part of the reason prosecutions like this remain rare is structural: there’s no centralized database tracking skier-on-skier collisions the way there is for car accidents, making it difficult to know how often they happen or how often they’re prosecuted, Fox explained.

Cassidy, who returned to skiing on a limited basis last winter, said she plans to keep working with Colorado lawmakers to strengthen skier-safety laws and increase consequences for people who flee collisions, ski beyond their ability, or ski under the influence. She credited her family, friends, lawyer, the jurors, and the judge for seeing the case through. “If you are incapable of maintaining safety on the mountain and you truly can’t stop, you shouldn’t be putting other people’s lives at risk for your fun day on the mountain,” Machak said. “If you are reckless on a mountain, there are real consequences if you hurt someone.”