Snowboarding ‘Chewie’ facing jail time for bashing Thredbo boss
He’s the cuddly hero of Star Wars but it appeared Chewbacca had gone to the dark side when horrified families watched a man dressed as him bash another man with a snowboard at a NSW ski resort.
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He’s the cuddly hero of Star Wars but it appeared Chewbacca had gone to the dark side when horrified families watched him bash a man with a snowboard.
In the movies Chewbacca has been imprisoned by both the Imperial Empire and Jabba the Hutt — and now a snowboarder who was become something of a legend on the NSW skifields for wearing famous wookiee costume is facing his own lengthy jail sentence after admitting to attacking the boss of the prestigious Thredbo Alpine Resort.
Ironically it was the very popularity of Chewbacca, who starred in eight of the legendary Star Wars movies, that triggered the incident.
The full story can now be revealed after Keith Wass of Blaxland pleaded guilty to recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm to Kosciuszko Thredbo general manager Jordan Rodgers, 55, at the village.
Agreed facts state Wass regularly dressed in a Chewbacca costume at Thredbo and the 53-year-old often found himself surrounded by children wanting to pose for photographs.
However Thredbo management received numerous complaints from parents afterwards.
“My children were desperate to have their photo taken with this person and initially I thought this person was part of the entertainment that Thredbo provided, however I became concerned as the individual did not seem to behave in a way that was aligned with other behaviours I have witnessed from other Thredbo staff,” one concerned mother wrote.
Another parent wrote: “Having young children of my own, I wondered about the appropriateness of him encouraging young people to have their photos taken with him.”
In August 2017 Thredbo resort conducted its iconic Top to Bottom race, the richest downhill skiing race in the country.
During this time Mr Rodgers saw Wass posing for photographs in his Chewbacca suit near the Kosciuszko chairlift.
The documents state Mr Rodgers approached Wass and an argument broke out, with the resort boss saying: “We’ve had complaints that kids are getting scared”.
Wass replied: “You are always doing this” and “Hey, I’m just Chewbacca”.
Mr Rodgers told Wass he was revoking his pass and then Wass attacked him, striking him in the face with his snowboard and knocking him to the ground.
The documents stated Wass stood over Mr Rodgers when he was on the ground, repeatedly striking him with his snowboard until he was restrained by three shocked bystanders.
The documents stated one man told Wass: “Mate, you’re in trouble”, to which he replied: “I know”.
Mr Rodgers, who was “barely conscious” after the assault, suffered severe facial injuries and lost three teeth in the incident.
“Teeth fragments were lodged in Mr Rodgers’ cheek and he required surgery to extract a tooth fragment buried in his lower right lip,” the fact sheet stated.
Police were called and arrested Wass before taking him to Jindabyne police station.
The fact sheet states Wass later posted on Facebook: “been banned from Thredbo by the CEO Jordan Rogers for riding in the Chewbacca costume so I dropped him, he lost consciousness and some teeth. Cop (p) ed a head but(t) to the bridge of the nose and have been having some difficulty with balance. Been ordered not to have any contact with Thredbo staff (even if I know them) about what happened and must stay 15km away from Thredbo”.
The documents also reveal Wass had made a complaint to the anti-discrimination board against Thredbo management in 2015.
He will be sentenced in Downing Centre District Court in September.