Colorado off-road driver jailed for DUI, child abuse after vehicle veers into spectators
A 59-year-old New Castle man is facing felony charges after his vehicle struck and injured several spectators - including children - during a mud bog exhibition last month.
Sydney Regan Bibby was formerly charged Wednesday with vehicular assault, child abuse, careless driving and driving under the influence (DUI). Bibby's criminal record includes multiple infractions for DUI and driving without a license.
According to a press release from the Rifle Police Department, the accident happened the evening of Saturday, May 17, during the Mud Bog event at the Rifle Rendezvous. The three-day festival was being held at the Garfield County Fairgrounds in Rifle.
While side-by-side mud racing is widely known in the swamp areas of the southeastern U.S., this event allowed vehicles to run through the mud strip one at a time. The craft range from stock all-terrain vehicles and trucks to highly modified buggies with powerful engines, lifted suspensions, and large (sometimes paddled) tires to help them skim across a soupy, earthy pit at high speed.
Sydney Bibby following his arrest May 17.
Garfield County Sheriff's Office
According to witnesses and a video provided to investigators of the incident, Bibby's lifted mud truck veered severely left at the end of the mud pit and struck a fence. Bibby apparently lost control of the vehicle and "right before hitting the fence he actually hit the throttle more," as a Rifle Police Department investigator described in Bibby's arrest affidavit. "After hitting the fence he then braked and put it in reverse."
A unidentified woman and her two children standing on the other side of the fence bore the brunt of the impact from Bibby's vehicle. One of the children was later flown to Children's Hospital in Denver for treatment, per the affidavit.
As witnesses and first responders treated the injured, other spectators directed officers to the driver of the vehicle. Bibby, according to the affidavit, told the first officer to approach him that his truck's throttle stuck and brakes failed, causing the crash. Bibby also said other spectators assaulted him after the crash.
The officer noted Bibby was slurring his speech and smelled of alcohol. Bibby declined to perform a sobriety test and was arrested.
The next driver waiting to cross the mug bog was the father of both injured children. According to the affidavit, the father noticed Bibby being "extremely belligerent and rude to other patrons" during the drivers meeting before the event.
No updated conditions of the injured have been released by Rifle authorities.
Bibby posted a $50,000 surety bond and was released from the Garfield County Jail three days after the incident. He is scheduled for an arraignment July 22.
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