Andersen Hitches Owner caught defacing Corona Arch

[Kirk W]

4 hours ago, packnrat said:

this guy thinks a apology is going to make it all better.

no way jose.

if i went to his house and gouged something into the outside walls, or scraped something into the paint on his truck. ( both very easy to fix, unlike sandstone). would a "i am sorry" be ok with him???.

If nothing is done, why would his children not continue the activity that he is teaching them? I find it very difficult to believe that he has never done anything of that sort in his past. It is just that he previously didn't get caught. 

[bigjim]

Absolutly the consequences are imporatant and at least as of now we don't know what they will be.  Again without giving him a pass we can only wait, watch, and perhaps advocate for serious visible consequences.  I still feel his statement is better than many I have seen and if he carries through it is some type of progress.  He opened up a way to message him which is pretty risky.  He is going to get all kinds of comments and even likly death threats.  Without know him personally I won't have an idea of his sincerity on his mea culpa. I can only judge based on his actions and comments going forward.

[LindaH]

9 hours ago, 2gypsies said:

Here's his letter of apology for doing this on 'the spur of the moment'. How old is this guy anyway?

https://ryan-andersen.org/

But then there's his swapping out of license plates on his truck!  That doesn't sound "spur of the moment" to me.  And, as others have asked, who carries extra license plates with him?  Or were the instructions to the kid to steal plates off another vehicle?  I'd sure like more details about this aspect of the story!

[DJohns]

Point is he is not from far away like New York, Florida or South Texas. He is from across the border where news like this gets reported on. I don't fall for the" I did not know" line. He knew the consequences but ignored them. There needs to be WAY more than a apology or this kind of behavior will just continue. I wonder if I am sorry dad I wrecked your truck while I was drunk would work for his kids to  Mr Anderson.

[Five Wood]

I think his apology is very well written but it was penned for the wrong reasons.  In his letter he mentions his business and his employees.  He clearly understands the adverse economic results his careless actions will have on his business and I think that is probably the only real regret he has.  The depth of his appreciation for what that arch is, is probably limited to just "oh that's cool".  And at his point in his life his level of appreciation will probably not change much.

I would like to see the Park Service offer him a deal.  Offer him the choice of a $10,000 fine or 150 hours of public service working with a park service restoration team for him and each member of his family.  For the mother and father it will simply be punishment for being stupid.  But for the kids they may learn an appreciation for what it takes to repair or minimize the damage people like their parents cause.  And the kids may actually learn how treasures like that arch are formed. 

Jim     

[Dollytrolley]

11 hours ago, 2gypsies said:

Here's his letter of apology for doing this on 'the spur of the moment'. How old is this guy anyway?

https://ryan-andersen.org/

Geez folks........imagine.......ole Ryan texts his "retained-lawyer-shop"    Shyster, Hookum & Screwum P C, LLC .......and.......BINGO a few minutes later......... a canned Damage-Control-Letter-of-Oh-I-Have-Sinned appears along with a web-link-comment-button that feeds directly to the P R section of the "Law-less-Firm" and for about $7,723.00 Ryan is in the drivers seat and his "handlers" have taken command of what the lawyers refer to as........."taking control of the ........."consequences"........and Teflon-coating "Ryan" and making the BLM the bad guy IF they do NOT PARTNER with "Ryan"........

 

Shucks folks with the proper ........."Handling"..........by " Shyster, Hookum & Screwum P C, LLC" poor and sad "Ryan" could maybe see a uptick in sales of maybe 14% and 5.677% better market share........

Having been a expert witness for some fairly dark law-less firms at times, I can assure you that plenty of "canned-letters" reside on huge hard drives on the lawyer servers.......,

 

Perhaps you have been living in a cave but..........Being a JERK these days is..........in fashion........,and the norm.....

 

Drive on...........,(Be a JERK and ..........lawyer-up.......the new-norm)

[Kirk W]

3 hours ago, bigjim said:

He opened up a way to message him which is pretty risky.  He is going to get all kinds of comments and even likly death threats. 

You have to leave your email address in order to leave any comments so making threats wouldn't be very smart. I would point out also that the letter is on a separate site created for his purposes and not in any way is it connected to that of his business. The way I read this is that he did that in an attempt to make all of us who are connecting him to his business go away and forget that connection. His real regret is that he got caught!

[chirakawa]

Modern hieroglyphs.  Says a lot about the civilization of the time.

[RV_]

I've used his Ultimate hitch and they are great. However, after this I believe I will stick with the Scamp type by Reese, like I have now with my Scamp 19' fiver I am about to sell before moving to Colorado. It fits on the Reese rails I have for my regular Reese 5th wheel hitch.

Scamp and/or Reese can compete with their existing products. I was surprised not to see these advertised on the Reese website.

Here is the Scamp fiver part of the hitch system:

I'll be looking for the outcome too.

 

Edited April 8, 2018 by RV_

[trailertraveler]

1 hour ago, chirakawa said:

Modern hieroglyphs.  Says a lot about the civilization of the time.

I was thinking petroglyphs, pictograms and the signatures left on Inscription Rock (El Moro National Monument) and Register Cliff, Independence Rock and Names Hill along the Oregon Trail.

[bigjim]

6 hours ago, LindaH said:

But then there's his swapping out of license plates on his truck!  That doesn't sound "spur of the moment" to me.  And, as others have asked, who carries extra license plates with him?  Or were the instructions to the kid to steal plates off another vehicle?  I'd sure like more details about this aspect of the story!

I agree I would like more factual information.  I have no trouble pulling the trap on a guilty person but I absolutely want to make sure it is the right person since you can't take it back once the neck snaps.

[bigjim]

3 hours ago, Kirk Wood said:

The way I read this is that he did that in an attempt to make all of us who are connecting him to his business go away and forget that connection. His real regret is that he got caught!

This does seem likely but at present I can only guess even if it is an educated guess. Even if he is still a weasel (sorry weasels) he would have be completely an idiot not to realize he screwed up big time.

[bigjim]

First I have heard of the scamp type hitch.  Interesting.

[chirakawa]

1 hour ago, trailertraveler said:

I was thinking petroglyphs, pictograms and the signatures left on Inscription Rock (El Moro National Monument) and Register Cliff, Independence Rock and Names Hill along the Oregon Trail.

Yeah, that's what I meant.

[Yarome]

Apology letter? Personally, I don't buy it for a hot second. Someone truly remorseful would be able to craft his/her own letter of apology rather than turning to a PR firm to create a domain, draft an apology and then respond to commentors on his behalf. He must not have paid them much though. No "replies" since Friday so I guess he didn't want to spring for their firms weekend rates.

It appears to be coming out that this may not be the first incident of defacing historical landmarks. If that's true... he certainly didn't feel badly enough about it to fess up and apologize prior to being caught.

$10,000 fine or 150hr's community service? That works out to $67/hr. $10/hr (at most) would be more in line. Ergo, 1000hrs community service for him. 500hrs for his accomplice (the wife) and encourage them both to include their children (within reason and not to exceed "x"hrs)... discounting their service hours by any hours of service provided by their children. Or so it "stings" on all "fronts"... a $5000 fine and, respectively, 500/250hrs community service on public lands.

Make no mistake... by any definition of the law, she was an accomplice during the commission of a crime and bears some responsibility as well.

I don't think banning the couple from public lands for life is appropriate. Not only is is fairly unenforceable, it's the kids that would suffer the most if they are denied the opportunity to experience and learn to appreciate nature. They shouldn't be penalized for the sins of their parents.

If it's proven true, the license plate thing just stinks to high h***. No honest person just happens to have a spare set of plates to obstruct identification. That, combined with the possibility that his children knew about them and knew how to follow their fathers instructions just smacks of a multiple offender of one type or another.

He most absolutely knew better which makes it all the more offensive, to me, that "one of our own" would defame a natural landmark.

As far as the company and employees... I feel for em. If I were one, I would be heading out the door, however, I see "no" distinction between a business owner making a poor business OR personal choice that detrimentally affects the viability of a company. It sucks, but it happens every day. The employees didn't commit the crime... true, but they also have no say in company policies or directives that could shut the doors just as summarily.

It "is" unfortunate for them, but that doesn't change my resolve to immediately inform all of my property and ranch managers to remove any Andersen equipment from any/all of our rigs, will never purchase from them again and will encourage others to do the same.

They've "crapped on my lawn" and I take that quite personally. 

There! Now I can "let it go" and enjoy the rest of my day. 

[Kirk W]

2 hours ago, Yarome said:

It "is" unfortunate for them, but that doesn't change my resolve to immediately inform all of my property and ranch managers to remove any Andersen equipment from any/all of our rigs, will never purchase from them again and will encourage others to do the same.

If you keep doing business with him out of concern for his employees, then you should never shut down or boycott any business that has employees for that same reason. If an RV dealer sells you a poor quality RV and refuses to honor the warranty, you can't stop buying there because it might harm his employees! 

2 hours ago, Yarome said:

They've "crapped on my lawn" and I take that quite personally. 

Exactly the way that I see it. 

[Sehc]

Why did he change the plates? There are some photos of initials and names such as Andersen etched onto other landmarks. Maybe they were confronted before and he was prepared this time.

[bigjim]

The plate thing is  something I hope they investigate as part of this and report it is true or not.   In the news I have read so far I only see that stated from one source. If that is true the investigation should widen to see where else he may have done damage and if found hold him responsible for that too.

[trailertraveler]

If the case of Casey Nocket, who defaced natural features in several parks, is any indication of the penalties that will be imposed; the court of public opinion may be much tougher on Mr. Anderson and his business than the courts. Casey was banned "from land administered by the National Park Service as well as the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Army Corps of Engineers...started serving two years of probation, as well as completing 200 hours of community service...will eventually give a public apology..A financial settlement will be decided at a later court date..."

Edited April 9, 2018 by trailertraveler

[cactus]

On 4/8/2018 at 6:32 AM, Kirk Wood said:

If nothing is done, why would his children not continue the activity that he is teaching them? I find it very difficult to believe that he has never done anything of that sort in his past. It is just that he previously didn't get caught. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

x2 - Spot on Kirk !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Daveh]

Dang. I own and have recommended his product. Now I am stuck with it. I can't excuse this or accept an apology. This mindset has no place in business and especially the outdoor recreation business. What an entitled jerk!!!!!!! 

[Daveh]

If he will change plates and engage in this kind of business. What corners will he cut in business? I hope the company gets bought so the employees don't suffer but I am done. 

Edited April 9, 2018 by Daveh

[Kirk W]

2 hours ago, trailertraveler said:

Casey was banned "from land administered by the National Park Service as well as the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Army Corps of Engineers..

And at least some of what she did can be removed. This guy cut it into the rock to make it permanent. 

My mother had a favorite saying about that sort of thing. "Fool's names and fool's faces are always seen in public places."

[Jinx & Wayne]

On April 5, 2018 at 7:21 PM, Kirk Wood said:

And we should all join forces to do our best to put that company out of business!

I am not sure that boycotting the company and putting numerous employees, and their families out of work and in financial jeopardy is a proportionate response.   The employees were likely hard at work at the time of the incident.  Their spouses and children did not deface the arch.    The real culprits here are the two Andersen parents.  Nothing is going to undo the harm.  Limiting retribution to the people who actually deserve it is important.  Conviction, fines and community service ought to get the point across to them and others.

 

[chirakawa]

56 minutes ago, Jinx & Wayne said:

I am not sure that boycotting the company and putting numerous employees, and their families out of work and in financial jeopardy is a proportionate response.   The employees were likely hard at work at the time of the incident.  Their spouses and children did not deface the arch.    The real culprits here are the two Andersen parents.  Nothing is going to undo the harm.  Limiting retribution to the people who actually deserve it is important.  Conviction, fines and community service ought to get the point across to them and others.

 

I agree. 

I remember when the head of Uber assaulted that driver.  There were some who proposed a boycott of Uber.  Really, punish thousands of working, productive employees and associates because their boss is a jerk?

There are procedures and processes in place to deal with this situation.  If you don't think the penalties are harsh enough, then lobby your elected representatives to change the law.