Cyclist faces mischief, fraud charges after claiming injuries from barbed wire on a trail
A Calgary man’s claim that barbed wire strung across a West Bragg Creek trail knocked him off his mountain bike was a lie, RCMP say.
Stellianos Psaroudakis reported to police on July 5 that he had been riding his bike on the trail when he struck barbed wire strung between two trees. The incident was said to have happened on a downhill slope while he was standing, which resulted in the wire cutting his shoulder and neck and knocking him off his bike.
Psaroudakis reported he was taken to hospital, leaving his bike behind. The next day the bike was gone, he said.
He then set up a GoFundMe account to pay his bills, buy a new bike and donate cameras to the park to make it safer.
Cochrane RCMP began an investigation, interviewing Psaroudakis, other cyclists who had been on the trail and area residents.
RCMP said they received numerous tips from the public, which led them to conclude the events recounted by Psaroudakis never took place.
Insp. Lauren Weare, the officer in charge of Cochrane RCMP, said they believe Psaroudakis was injured earlier at a different location and filed a false report to police.
“Mr. Psaroudakis did come in contact with ( barbed) wire but he was riding an ATV at a different location, at a different time,” said Weare and added the barbed wire was part of a fence to contain livestock. That incident happened on private property, of which Psaroudakis was a guest.
Psaroudakis has been charged with fraud under $5,000 and public mischief.
GoFundMe released a statement Friday regarding Psaroudakis’ campaign.
“We can confirm that the campaign organizer Stellianos Psaroudakis closed the campaign and all donors have now been refunded,” read the statement.
Weare also said a significant amount of time went into investigating the case. RCMP had to not only investigate the initial incident but then after determining the crime did not happen as reported, issue another investigation into how Psaroudakis became injured.