Shaun “The Flying Tomato” White, an Olympic gold medalist in snowboarding with signature long, flaming red hair, was issued a summons in Breckenridge for unlawfully setting off a fire extinguisher in a game room.
White, 21, was cited Friday at about 11:50 p.m. by Breckenridge police and is suspected of second-degree criminal tampering, according to a police report.
The report said White’s breath smelled of alcohol when police contacted him over the allegations.
White was in Colorado over the weekend for the U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix. He won the event Saturday night in Breckenridge.
Sean Fay, a security guard at Beaver Run Resort, responded Friday at about 8:40 p.m. to a report of a “disturbance” in a game room, the report said.
A witness told Fay he saw “a white male with long red hair pulling the pin from the fire extinguisher.”
White and a woman who was with him were still in the area, the report said. Fay approached them and asked their names.
The report says Fay told the couple to stay put while he momentarily left them, but when he returned they were gone.
Later, Breckenridge police officer Steven Block watched security footage with Fay and saw a young man fitting White’s description holding a pool cue and “playfully” chasing a young woman around video-game machines in the room.
The man on the video then went to the back of the room, pulled a fire extinguisher from a wall, placed it on the ground and a “large cloud of smoke” discharged.
Block found White, and his clothing matched the clothes of the man on the security video. Block asked White to take off one of his shoes and the officer took it inside and matched it to footprints left in white powder, dust from the extinguisher, on the floor of the game room, the report said.
White was issued a summons for misdemeanor second-degree criminal tampering, which he signed.
A court date is scheduled for March 10 in Summit County.
White is from Carlsbad, Calif. His dominance in snowboarding has led to celebrity status and advertising and product endorsements.
He has been a guest on late-night talk shows and has been featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com
