BRECKENRIDGE, Colo.—Olympic snowboarder Shaun White was cited for allegedly setting off a fire extinguisher at a ski resort and was questioned about a stolen car the same day, but authorities say he is not suspected of stealing the vehicle.
Summit County sheriff’s deputies interviewed White about the stolen 2000 Audi on Friday “because he was in the vicinity of the car,” sheriff’s spokeswoman Paulette Horr said Tuesday.
She said White has been ruled out as a suspect.
“He wasn’t arrested. All we did was interview him,” she said.
The car had been recovered outside the Beaver Run Resort in Breckenridge, a ski town about 60 miles west of Denver. The fire extinguisher had been set off in a game room at Beaver Run the same day, though it wasn’t immediately clear which happened first.
A Breckenridge police report said a security camera recorded someone setting off the fire extinguisher, and White’s clothes and shoes appeared to match what the person on the video was wearing.
The report also said White’s shoes matched footprints left in the powder from the fire extinguisher.
Police cited White on a charge of second-degree criminal tampering. He was ordered to appear in municipal court on March 10.
The report said White’s breath smelled of alcohol when police spoke with him.
White’s telephone in Carlsbad, Calif., repeatedly rang busy Tuesday.
White, 21, dubbed “The Flying Tomato” for his red hair, won the gold medal in the snowboard halfpipe in the 2006 Olympics.
