By Teresa Ristow
Mail Tribune
A Jackson County-employed psychiatrist who the Forest Service says admitted to sabotaging mountain-biking trails in the Ashland watershed will head to court in late October after his actions allegedly injured three bikers and put others in danger.
Jackson Tyler Dempsey, 57, of Ashland, was arrested July 22 after he admitted to laying nylon cord, nails and vegetation along trails on multiple occasions because he "did not like downhill mountain bikers," according to a report from the U.S. Forest Service officer who arrested Dempsey.
Ashland mountain biker Bill Roussel said that on July 22 he spotted a man walking on the mountain biking trails and reported him to a Forest Service officer.
The arresting officer reported that he found Dempsey near milepost 11 on Forest Service Road 2080 near Mount Ashland later that morning. He said Dempsey admitted to sabotaging trails on at least five different days in June and July.
Dempsey is employed as a psychiatrist at Jackson County Mental Health in Medford. When contacted by phone, Anne Larson, director of the Mental Health Department, said she could not comment on the case. On previous phone calls, Mental Health Department employees answering the phone said Dempsey was with patients and not available. Dempsey did not return multiple calls in July or on Friday seeking comment.
Roussel, who owns the mountain-biking shuttle service Ashland Mountain Adventures, said in July that he had seen the same man on numerous occasions walking along mountain biking trails in the watershed.
The officer reported Dempsey had a piece of nylon cord with him, which appeared identical to four other nylon cords the officer had recovered in the previous six weeks.
Dempsey was arrested and charged with fourth-degree assault and three counts of reckless endangerment. He is due in court Oct. 29 to face the charges.
Three mountain bikers sustained minor injuries because of hitting either the cords or vegetation that Dempsey admitted to placing across the trail, according to the report.
Roussel said that on the day of the arrest he received a minor cut on his leg after hitting a log that had been dragged onto the trail.
The Forest Service in July declined to identify Dempsey as the suspect in the trail sabotage after receiving a request from the Mail Tribune. Dempsey's arrest was public record but there were no accompanying details to positively link him to the trail case. The Forest Service also denied a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the newspaper. Dempsey was identified as the suspect Friday through newly released state court records.
Since the July arrest, Roussel hasn't found any new vandalism on trails in the watershed, according to Sue Roussel, his wife and co-owner of Ashland Mountain Adventures.
"It was a really stressful six weeks," she said Friday. "We're waiting to see what happens next."
A previous court date of Sept. 24 was postponed because Dempsey was working through mediation with the state regarding his charges, according to court records.
Source: Mail Tribune - Southern Oregon Reach reporter Teresa Ristow at 541-776-4459 or tristow@mailtribune.com.
What do you think should happen to people that intentionally set out to harm others? What should the courts do in cases like this one in Ashland, Oregon?
www.berkeleyside.com/2010/06/03/bicycle-opponent-arrested-for-assaulting-cyclist
Heres his mugshot!
convicted.me/oregon/jackson-county-jail/inmate/jackson-tyler-dempsey-97305
I hate these kind of people.
How do people think that they can do this sh*t. I respect everyone on the trails, wether their bikers, hikers, horses or what ever and the fact that other people can't respect us is not right. I've been yelled at and pulled off my bike by people thinking they know whats best for the trails. It's a miracle that I haven't broken any jaws.
Some one should take this dude and have him lay down and use him for a jump haha
Take his shirt off, paint his face red and white, tie him to a chair, and stick him in the front of the next Crankworx HeckleFest!
Due process? HE ADMITTED TO DOING IT! This isn't some murder trial where you can argue that he was somehow coerced into a confession... more proof that hate-filled hikers have control over public policies...
What if he had dug out a landing or put a log in the middle of the up ramp for a jump that you can't see coming? This could have been far more serious, I'd hate to see him let off with some puny warning or community service.
www.mitchamcouncil.sa.gov.au/page.aspx?u=1475
seen the same problem here, both trail nazis (people doing sabotage) and the local authorities pulling down illegal trails and actually making things more dangerous because riders have no warning when coming into a blind corner on the trail at speed and finding some idiot has dumped logs or felled trees
its has gotten so bad in some areas of the UK that riders are always advised to walk up the trail before riding down, to check the trail for safety
also seen some horrible and dangerous mess left behind when local authorities have pulled down illegal 'north shore' style timber trails and rather than removing them (which causes serious $$ ÂŁÂŁ), have broken them up leaving a tangled mess of broken timber with large splinters, sharp spikes and nails sticking out ready to cause serious injury to people and animals
Helmets like this trail wrecker need to be punished hard, but bikers need to take some responsibility too, stick to riding where we have the least impact on others and tidy up after ourselves.
Littering is a huge trigger for me. I've been very confrontation (kept to issue) with people, freaked few people into a serious reality check and left others speechless. I have to say I've been lucky. I have never got my ass beat or shot. Not sure how I feel about confrontation it has its +&-. Biggest thing I notice is sometimes it's easier if I quietly pick it up myself (I stay calmer and it's safer).
Big props for doing the work! You know in the end the forest is better off because of you. I believe the forest, nature takes care of its own.
The trail is used by a lot including me and my 7 year old son.
(Danish news)
furesoe.lokalavisen.dk/livsfarlig-chikane--soem-i-skovbunden/Politi/20120917/artikler/709189397/1125
The police is not doing a damn thing.
Please everyone do a reality check. Are you respectful of the property that is not owned by you? Others have mentioned the littering. LISTEN TO THE LANGUAGE YOU ARE USING IN THESE POSTS!!! DO YOU REALLY THINK ANYONE WILL TAKE YOU SERIOUS AS RESPONSIBLE LAND USERS WITH THESE COMMENTS? THE POSTS IN HIS WALL ACTUALLY SUPPORT HIS ACTIONS BECAUSE OF THE DISRESPECTFUL AGGRESSIVE MTBers. GROW UP AND ACT LIKE RESPONSIBLE PEOPLE TO PROVE HIM WRONG!!!!!!
Only then will this old trail wrecking wankstain find something better to do other than put other peoples lives in danger! He's clearly got a problem, maybe he should have checked himself into the mental hospital he works at!!!
Sounds like a plan..... I will come and join you for a piece of Rob Warner style mayhem, Be sure to bring some 2.7 maxxis tubes so we can tie up the people we steal from before we nick a police car and have a midnight uplift session at cwm carn!
Some people are just beyond a joke an deserve everything they get! (and i hope they get allot!)
I just hope the three guys that got hurt are ok and back on the trails smashing it up!
John Rachor rachorjv@jacksoncounty.org
Don Skundrick skundrdw@jacksoncounty.org
Dennis C.W. Smith smithdc@jacksoncounty.org
uncommonshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/monty-python-black-knight.jpg
As for the shrink.. He needs to get on a mountain bike and learn to be free... I think he's jealous because with all his degrees he doesn't have a life...
When he's in jail; maybe a mountain bike action mag will be hanging around that he can read and learn how real men and women live!
www.pinkbike.com/video/241419
Strap him on a road bike and send him off the Oakley icon sender at Rampage,
On the way down he can psycho analyse his fall...
i used to hate how some moron would sue some company like a fast food chain and hundreds of others would jump on board but in this case with such minimal charges i think any one that got hurt in ashland cycling should jump on board and claim it was on a sabotaged trail. this guy needs to be locked up for a long time
I think its partially because
1) The perp didn't realize the speed that riders travel, and the damage that can be done by a rope.
2) The perp didn't realize that he'd be more effective by complaining to the local government (because he works in government)
3) The perp didn't understand that he probably just increased the number of riders because of the backlash against him.
At the bottom of the page you can write a letter to his employer telling them how his actions reflect badly on their state-run organization. As a citizen that pays taxes that go to employ people like this, I have a right to voice my concern to the people in charge.
And The Jackson County Commissioners
John Rachor rachorjv@jacksoncounty.org
Don Skundrick skundrdw@jacksoncounty.org
Dennis C.W. Smith smithdc@jacksoncounty.org
BE POLITE
www.ksl.com/?nid=960&sid=20091241
Seems like everyone has a story about some f@cker who has done something stupid/dangerous to make a point. Too bad they put peoples lives at risk without a clear message. Make a sign assbags!
Hope this doesn't sour you guys on mental health professionals. Many ride with you and would never think of doing something so stupid.
Also in the news recently were a coupla psychos (Oregon, I think... PNW anyhow) who set up deadly Rambo-style traps along a popular hiking/backpacking trail.
There's just no place for that garbage. The trails are for all to enjoy but unfortunate there always has to a few morons who royally messes up a good outing. I ride in the Delta Watershed a lot and have come across items across riding trails that shouldn't be there. And you know these things were deliberately placed there. One day I found a rock in the middle of the a run a lot of people come flying down. Luckily I was just doing a warm up run/survey of the trail so I just moved it out of harms way...someone could have been seriously hurt. There have been other instances involving smaller fallen trees or parts of trees on the trail. Some of which gave me a real good hurtin. I know the trails are shared but there's no reason to get upset. If you see someone coming, yield/move out of the way or whatever, and just give a friendly hello and thank you (rider, pedestrian, horses, etc).
i'd like to see this guy made an example of to the fullest extent of the law. this kind of thing happens all over & nobody really ever is caught for it except for the riders who get seriously injured by booby traps. that kind of behavior is baffling to me especially since this guy is supposed to be a psychiatrist??? i wouldn't think twice about what i'd do if i caught someone setting booby traps, they better have a good dental plan.
What the frack did any of us do to you?
why the hell would the c*ck do that when he could of killed someone.
1. Go to a knife store and buy a f*ckin 13 inch rambo knife,
2. Hunt that mother f*cker down and kill all his relatives. Pull their throats out and throw them in his spokes
3. Then rape all his best friends and make them shit blood in a container for a week straight.
4. Then get the guy and boil him in the big pot of blood shit till he cries for jesus
5. And look him in the eye and ask what its like...WHATS IT LIKE
WHATS IT LIKE WHEN YOU f*ck WITH A RIDER!! WHATS IT LIKE BROOOOO