At the Lake: Staged accident at ski resort leads to theft conviction

A former Sierra-at-Tahoe employee accused of staging an accident at the ski resort has been convicted of grand theft by a jury in South Lake Tahoe.

The verdict was reached last week in the five-day trial of 29-year-old Nicholas Jason Beaver, prosecutors said. The same jury also sustained a special allegation that the amount stolen by Beaver exceeded $65,000, according to a news release from the El Dorado County District Attorney's Office.

Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 22 in Judge Suzanne Kingsbury's courtroom.

The case centers on an April 9, 2004, incident in which Beaver intentionally jumped on a "snow bridge" covering a hole until it broke, then entered the hole, said El Dorado County Assistant District Attorney Hans Uthe.

The hole, which Uthe estimated was 4 to 5 feet deep, had been dug to test drainage capacity of the soil.

Although he probably didn't intend to get hurt, it appears Beaver injured his knee and needed arthroscopic surgery, Uthe said.

Beaver worked in trail maintenance at the ski resort and had just gotten off work before his fall into the hole, according to Uthe.

Beaver claimed the resulting injury as a legitimate workplace injury, prosecutors said, and over the next 21 months obtained more than $42,000 in medical services from Sierra, which also paid out other funds in connection with the claim. Beaver also initiated a civil action in which he demanded more than $486,000 from Sierra for his injuries. Sierra's legal fees in defending itself against the fraudulent claim have to date exceeded $40,000, according to prosecutors.

Beaver's attorney could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.

Beaver's tumble into the hole came after he attended a social gathering in 2004 in which the drainage hole was discussed and someone joked that someone probably could get a lot of money out of Sierra by "accidentally" falling into the hole and claiming to be injured, prosecutors said.

Beaver, who reportedly was angry with Sierra because the resort wasn't going to hire him back the next season, adopted the plan over the following six weeks and carried it out with the help of two friends, prosecutors said.

The friends initially were charged but then were offered immunity in exchange for their truthful testimony in the case, Uthe said.

Deputy District Attorney Robert Priscaro, who handled the trial, said it was Beaver's own greed that caused the plot to unravel. Several years after the phony accident, Sierra-at-Tahoe offered to settle the civil case by paying Beaver and his civil attorney $110,000 on top of the thousands of dollars they already had expended, Priscaro said. Beaver and his attorney refused the offer, claiming the case was "worth" far more. One of the people with knowledge of the scheme heard of this, was offended by Beaver's behavior and brought the situation to the attention of Sierra-at-Tahoe management, who then notified law-enforcement officials, according to prosecutors.