One of the more bizarre stories of ski resort vandalism has come to a head, as Schweitzer Mountain Resort filed a lawsuit last week in district court against David Markwardt, who they allege has been slashing ski lift seat cushions at the resort for the past two season, causing upwards of $70,000 in damages. No, this isn't some teenage punk, but rather a self-described "retired physician with five university degrees" who owns two units at the Selkirk Lodge at the base of the mountain. The resort maintains Mr. Markwardt cut or damaged 62 seat cushions on five of the area's seven ski lifts. Last season Schweitzer offered $1,000 to anyone with information leading them to the vandal, and this January banned Markwardt from all resort-owned property except his hotel room and the parking garage two days after the mountain found fifteen seats slashed in one day.
No other information about Markwardt is none other than that he possibly ran his own clinic in Spokane and launched a petition to push senators to take a "no lobbying" pledge after leaving public office. The defendant has 20 days to answer the civil complaint, and Curbed will be watching as things undoubtedly get stranger.
· Suit targets seat slasher [Bonner County Daily Bee]
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