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Man who threw snowboarder off Aspen Highlands lift could be released

Aspen Highlands

ASPEN, Colo. — Doctors at the state psychiatric hospital in Pueblo want to release a man who pushed a snowboarder off a chairlift at Aspen Highlands nearly four years ago.

The Aspen Times reports 35-year-old Thomas Proesel could be released by the end of October, although prosecutor Don Nottingham says he plans to file an objection “based on the seriousness and dangerousness of the offense.”

Proesel threw the then-28-year-old snowboarder off the Loge Peak Lift on Jan. 17, 2016, after the snowboarder made an innocuous comment. The snowboarder, who fell 20 to 25 feet landed in a pile of fresh snow and was uninjured.

Proesel was later diagnosed with schizophrenia and another psychiatric disorder. His possible release would be supervised.