Another “testimonial”. Transitioning to be able to participate in avalanch rescue?! I am beyond words.

@karkis wrote:

that shit show is also a good example of the downward spiral that happens if you play at their level and really the only way to deal with negatizzity is to rise above it
:doobie:

Canada raises such well adjusted young men. Continually impressed.

@bones get broke wrote:

@Snowolf wrote:

Well, he has deleted everyone`s comments except those that agree with him.

Hey guys, if you click on the photo of our friends child, under options you can report it to Facebook as harrassing a friend. I did this and I think everybody should do this until Facebook removes it.

I’ve done this several times and FaceShot couldn’t give a micro shit….They wouldn’t even take down my photo that had my personal info as a caption. My picture is gone now but I think David Gottorff took it down on his own. Facebook security and harassment protection is a joke.

Yep! I got the auto generated form letter telling me that they reviewed the photo and that it did not meet their criteria for harrasment, blah,blah,blah. I guess I got banned too as I can no longer post on its FB page either….. :bananas:

Kneepads might help… 😉

A valuable lesson can be learned from this. Don’t be a dick!

Ding dong, the Dick is gone. :clap:

@ieism wrote:

@Taylor wrote:

Thank double-daffy goodness they’ve at least still got MRG, Alta and Deer Valley!

Not stirring the fire, but to somebody not from the US that still sounds like a rule made by crazy people. I cannot believe there was never an organised attempt to break those rules. You must be a very obedient group of people. :doobie:

There was, actually. A few years ago Burton sponsored a challenge or video competition. Poach for Freedom. Shortly after Taos opened it’s gates to side sliders. :rock:

Lol, check this out……

https://www.ouraynews.com/news/judge-bans-man-contact-others

I haven’t been on this forum in like 4 years, and I came here just to say:

OMG THAT THREAD BUMP JUST WON THE INTERNET!!!

Insane.

Oh, and reading back through this thread reminds me I still want to meet @karkis someday! Some funny shit… not to mention I seem to recall him sending the shit out of some crazy lines… 🙂

Oh yes, this is rich–a blizzard of restraining orders. This thread deserves both articles be pasted in full.

Judge bans man from contact with others

By Erin McIntyre on Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Subhead
Rejected mayoral hopeful accused of vandalism, stalking

A judge granted a permanent restraining order barring a rejected mayoral candidate from interacting with his former boss and the Colorado Boy Brewpub in Ridgway.

During a 5 1/2-hour hearing featuring testimony about alleged vandalism with dog feces and distributing stickers disparaging the brewery, the court heard from witnesses who all said they feared David Gottorff and his recent practices of surveilling brewery customers and reporting them for suspected drunken driving to 911. Stating they felt his behavior was “unpredictable” and “odd,” they told the court they had become nervous, anxious and felt like they always needed to look over their shoulders as long as Gottorff might show up.

Judge Kurt A. Beckenhauer ruled Gottorff must avoid contact with Colorado Boy and its owners, as well as his former boss, Andy Michelich, whom Gottorff is accused of harassing in a related criminal case. Gottorff was arrested after an argument he had with Michelich at Colorado Boy last fall, according to court records. The argument stemmed from Michelich telling Gottorff he could no longer drive certain routes for him at Western Slope Rides, because a parent expressed concerns about Gottorff driving her children after she said he harassed her for not hiring him at a Ouray guide business.

Gottorff was arrested for alleged harassment of Michelich after the confrontation at Colorado Boy, after he refused to accept a summons from the marshal, according to court records. He’s scheduled for a jury trial in that case in May.

The latest complaints involve allegations that Gottorff retaliated against Colorado Boy, its patrons and employees after he was banned from returning to the brewery after the Oct. 16 incident with Michelich.

Attorney Roger Sagal, representing Colorado Boy and Michelich, argued Gottorff has a pattern of behavior where he retaliates against others and harasses them.

“He has an inability of self control and to stop himself from harassing and stalking behavior,” Sagal told the court. Sagal previously represented RIGS Fly Shop and Guide Service in a civil case Gottorff filed and lost after he was fired from working there in 2018.

After he was “86’ed” from the brewery, Colorado Boy owner Daniel Richards said stickers with a modified logo from Colorado Boy started appearing around Ouray, Ridgway and Montrose.

The logo looks similar to the brewery’s official logo but was changed to show a miner sitting on a toilet, with the words “sh***y pizza and beer” on the circular border.

Richards said Gottorff also started disparaging the business online and in beer enthusiast forums on social media, and posted a photo of the sticker and an altered photo of his brother, Dennis, in front of the sign for the Ouray location.

Sagal presented a video of Gottorff walking down the street in Ouray on Jan. 27, obtained from the Ouray Liquors security camera, which showed him walking two dogs and pausing to turn around and touch a metal trash bin. It’s not clear in the video what is left on the trash can, but Richards testified one of the stickers was found and removed from the can later. Sagal presented the court with a bag of stickers removed from several locations as evidence.

In an extended bout of back-and-forth questioning between Sagal and Gottorff, Sagal asked him if he made the disparaging sticker or had placed it around town. Gottorff said he didn’t make the stickers.

“You didn’t put the stickers around town?” Sagal asked at one point.

“I put stickers on things I own in Ridgway,” Gottorff replied.

When asked who made the stickers, Gottorff replied, “I’m going to exercise my Fifth Amendment right,” and refused to answer the question.

The judge said the Fifth Amendment didn’t apply in this case, as he wasn’t being asked to incriminate himself.

Asked again who made the stickers, Gottorff then said, “Why should I know?”

Asked where he got the stickers, he said he got them at Colorado Boy, seeming to be referring to the original stickers with the unaltered logo.

Asked again if he placed the modified stickers around town, Gottorff paused for several seconds and replied, “I have taken a sticker and placed it on something I own. I live in Ridgway.”

In another incident, Richards and Colorado Boy brewer Elliott Bell testified they believed Gottorff placed dog feces on the Colorado Boy company truck, which was parked in the Kate’s Place parking lot across from the brewery on Feb. 6, the day Gottorff was arraigned in the criminal case involving Michelich.

Both testified they had attended that hearing, and brought food back from the Ouray Colorado Boy restaurant to the Ridgway location. Bell returned to the truck after a short period of time and found two clumps of dog poop stuck on the back of the vehicle.

Sagal showed a video from a security camera showing Gottorff walking his dogs past the Colorado Boy just before Bell noticed the feces on the truck.

Two days later, Bell said he and his girlfriend, Lexi Trachy, said Gottorff followed them after they came out of the brewery and was recording them with his cellphone. Gottorff said he was recording them because Trachy almost ran over him as he was walking on the sidewalk. Trachy took a photo of Gottorff standing in front of her vehicle, photographing her license plate, which she had posted on social media as a warning to others after she discovered he had announced his candidacy for mayor.

Bell and Trachy both said they worry about what Gottorff might do next and they find his behavior unpredictable and odd.

“Ever since the the incident when we 86’ed him, it seems his behavior has ramped up,” Bell told the court.

Colorado Boy regular Josh White testified that Gottorff recorded him on his phone when he was enjoying a beer outside.

“He was sitting there staring at me the whole time,” said White, who used the word “creepy” more than once to describe the incident.

After finishing his beer, White said hi to Gottorff on his way to his truck. Gottorff allegedly replied, “Good luck driving.”

Ridgway Marshal Shane Schmalz testified that Gottorff had called in three DUI reports and had taken photos of patrons at Colorado Boy, including Trachy. None of those reports resulted in arrests. Schmalz also testified Gottorff had not called in reports of DUIs related to other businesses that serve alcohol.

Schmalz testified he knows Gottorff has filed at least four complaints against him personally. That’s in addition to a complaint Gottorff filed last year against a deputy who handled harassment complaints from Michelich about Gottorff.

Gottorff also protested the town’s decision to disqualify him from running for mayor based on his residency. Though he vowed to fight that decision, Gottorff’s mayoral campaign page was removed from social media this week. He did not respond to an email asking if he still considers himself a candidate.

Gottorff had filed his own requests for restraining orders with the court, claiming former Colorado Boy owner Tom Hennessy and Michelich had been harassing him. Neither of those was granted.

Gottorff took the stand to testify in the case involving his claims against Michelich on Monday. He told the court his former employer had tailgated him, recorded him with a cellphone and flipped him off on occasions. He also claimed Michelich was driving past his house and had harassed him.

Michelich said none of those claims was true and the opposite was happening – that Gottorff had started hanging out on a park bench on the corner near his business (which is also near Colorado Boy) staring in an intimidating way.

Gottorf was represented by Telluride attorney Jacqueline Distefano, who argued there were no eyewitnesses to the dog feces incident or the sticker incident in Ouray. She also said none of the witnesses testified Gottorff had threatened them physically.

“It’s necessary to make that restraining order permanent so this conduct can finally stop,” Sagal said. “Mr. Gottorff sort of has this tit-for-tat mentality.” He urged the judge to send a message with a permanent restraining order, adding, “I’m concerned, frankly, for the community at-large.”

The judge said he didn’t believe Gottorff’s testimony about the stickers, about the incident involving Bell and Trachy and also the incident where he claimed Michelich followed him, flipped him off and recorded him.

“I think Mr. Gottorff was not credible,” Beckenhauer said, adding the evidence showed the stickers started showing up after Gottorff was banned from Colorado Boy. He also cited concerns about the brewery losing customers and said Gottorff’s behavior had caused emotional distress for those involved.

“All these behaviors seem to come after someone has upset Mr. Gottorff and I think they’re designed to cause the emotional distress that they have caused,” Beckenhauer said.

Editor’s note: Gottorff received another restraining order related to a separate incident in May at a Ridgway liquor store. Click here to read that story.

Ridgway man banned from contact again

By Erin McIntyre on Wednesday, July 8, 2020

Judge grants third permanent restraining order

A man who tried to run for mayor in Ridgway has been banned from contact with a woman who accused him of accosting her at a liquor store in May and continuing to harass her online and by impersonating her.

County Court Judge Kurt Beckenhauer granted a permanent restraining order prohibiting David Gottorff from any contact with Shannon Marjenhoff, after a five-hour hearing Monday in Ouray County Court.

Marjenhoff testified she was afraid of Gottorff and feared retaliation from him after an incident at San Juan Liquors on May 22, which began after she said hello to him without realizing who he was, since he was wearing a mask.

According to testimony from a liquor store employee, Christian Thomsen, Gottorff then yelled at Marjenhoff and was “acting aggressive toward her” in the parking lot when they encountered each other. Thomsen said he heard Gottorff yelling at her about something posted on the Internet, approached Marjenhoff and started recording her with his phone.

Thomsen unlocked the liquor store door, inviting Marjenhoff inside and locking the door behind her before asking her if she wanted to call police.

The Ridgway Marshal’s Office responded, but there was no citation issued. Gottorff eventually left the scene and came back later for his vehicle. Gottorff also called police and reported he was the one being harassed.

Gottorff, who represented himself in court, asked Thomsen if he saw him make physical contact with her or assault her.

“Nope, only verbally,” Thomsen said.

“OK, I didn’t ask about that,” Gottorff said.

Marjenhoff said she’d never met Gottorff in person but recognized him from his postings online, particularly his campaign Facebook page when he ran for mayor. She also told the court she posted comments about Gottorff online to make the public aware he was running for office, and of his reputation in other communities where he lived previously.

Two days after the incident at the liquor store, Marjenhoff started receiving phone calls from moving companies across the U.S. with quotes for her to move to Louisiana. These included a “crazy inventory list” of 10 grandfather clocks and other odd items, she said. She estimated she received about 100 phone calls from companies responding to an inquiry using an old email address and her phone number, which she didn’t submit. One moving company representative from Florida told her, “Someone must be very mad at you,” she told the court. She said this started on the same day she began to be harassed online.

In a May 24 Ridgway Independent News post, Gottorff called Marjenhoff a “failed artist” and a “serial predator,” and also posted Marjenhoff’s home address.

When asked about postings on the Ridgway Independent News former Facebook account and Twitter account, Gottorff initially said he was a staff writer, and declined to name anyone else associated with the entity.

“Who else is associated with Ridgway Independent News other than just you?” asked attorney Roger Sagal, who was representing Marjenhoff.

“Maybe just me,” Gottorff responded.

Sagal asked again who else is associated, and Gottorff said, “No one.”

“It’s your webpage,” Sagal later stated.

“Sure,” Gottorff said, and confirmed he alone created the social media pages associated with the entity.

When asked where he got the information about Marjenhoff, Gottorff said Sue Williamson provided it to him in February. Williamson is a cosmetologist who lives in the area.

“She provided me with a lot of things,” he said, including emails, recordings and posts from social media.

Williamson testified she contacted Gottorff months ago, after seeing comments Marjenhoff made online which she considered bullying and slander.

Williamson, who calls herself a “guerrilla journalist,” told the court she regularly provides information to Gottorff and has a habit of recording conversations she has with others. Because Colorado is a single-party consent state, this is legal. She told the court she has “hundreds of hours” of recordings and has recorded people without their knowledge “many” times.

“She has provided me with recordings of individuals,” Gottorff told the court.

Gottorff initially said he wanted to testify. But after the judge explained he would have to be under oath and be subject to cross examination, he said he would rather proceed to closing arguments. Gottorff alleged Marjenhoff has a long history of defamation and libel and that she committed perjury on the form requesting the restraining order, checking a box stating there was a physical assault, which didn’t happen.

Sagal asked Beckenhauer to grant the permanent restraining order not only to protect Marjenhoff, but to send a message to Gottorff that his behavior needs to stop.

“This is getting to be a very dangerous pattern of behavior, and we’re seeing the exact same things play out in this case as we did in the Colorado Boy case and we did in the Western Slope Rides case,” said Sagal. “If he isn’t restrained, he will continue to do these things.”

Beckenhauer agreed with Sagal and granted the permanent order, stating if he didn’t restrain him from contact with Marjenhoff, “Mr. Gottorff is likely to engage in similar acts.”

This is the third permanent restraining order granted against Gottorff this year – he’s also been banned from contact with his former employer, Andy Michelich of Western Slope Rides, as well as Colorado Boy locations and employees. The court granted those permanent restraining orders after hearing evidence Gottorff retaliated against Michelich and the brewpub. Gottorff also has a pending criminal harassment case involving an altercation with Michelich at Colorado Boy in Ridgway in November.

On Monday morning, Gottorff had another hearing regarding the pending harassment case, which was scheduled for jury trial this month. However, an order issued on June is postponed most jury trials due to COVID-19, and has granted few waivers for jury trials to be held while restrictions are in place.

Gottorff asked Beckenhauer for a trial in August and said he didn’t want to waive his rights to a speedy trial. He also said if the trial couldn’t be held in August, he wanted the case dismissed.

However, the judge denied that request, citing a pending complaint Gottorff filed in district court to protest the court’s decision to not provide him an attorney. Instead, he stayed the proceedings and vacated the trial for now. Beckenhauer said procedural rules made it impossible for him to move forward with setting a trial date with Gottorff’s complaint pending.

“What you’re putting forth are two things that are mutually exclusive,” Beckenhauer said, adding he couldn’t set a trial date if Gottorff extended the proceedings by filing the complaint about not having a court-appointed attorney.

Upon hearing that his pending complaint prevented the court from granting a speedy trial, Gottorff repeatedly interrupted the judge with pleas that he would withdraw his complaint that day.

“I will submit it right now before the hearing is over,” he said, interrupting the judge several times.

“Mr. Gottorff, I am directing you to stop talking and listen to me,” Beckenhauer said. “You continue to assert two things that cannot happen at the same time.”

Gottorff previously told the court he might withdraw the complaint at a June 25 hearing, but had not done so at the time of the hearing on Monday. Gottorff argued the court and the public defender’s office gave him no notice of the conflict.

“Mr. Gottorff, it’s not accurate to say the court gave you no notice,” Beckenhauer said. Regarding his promise to withdraw the complaint, he said, “I’m not confident that you would follow through on that.”

At this time, proceedings are stalled until a decision is made on Gottorff’s interlocutory appeal regarding representation. After the district court issues a decision, the courts have go days to hold his trial.

Gottorff previously applied to have a public defender represent him, after he hired another attorney from Telluride to represent him in a counterclaim against Colorado Boy and Michelich when they sought the restraining orders. But he later said he didn’t want an attorney from the public defender’s office and instead wanted the courts to appoint an alternate attorney to represent him. Defense attorneys from outside the public defender’s office are usually appointed only if there’s a conflict of interest for a public defender.

The courts found he didn’t meet the financial qualifications to have an attorney appointed, something he protests.

“I do not want to be represented by the public defender’s office, but I do believe that I’m indigent,” Gottorff said on Monday. He added he didn’t believe the public defender’s office “dutifully represented” him.

https://www.ouraynews.com/2023/07/21/jury-convicts-ridgway-man-of-threats-stalking/