Blue Mountain Reservation Mountain Bikers Purposely Endangered: WCPD

PEEKSKILL, NY — A Westchester County mountain biking trail was repeatedly made unnecessarily treacherous by the actions of a Peekskill man, according to police.

The Westchester County Police Department says that 44-year-old Jeffrey Jarvis, of Peekskill, was charged this week with deliberately placing tree limbs and other debris along a trail way used by mountain bikers at Blue Mountain Reservation, potentially exposing those bikers to serious injury.

Jarvis was charged with misdemeanor second-degree criminal nuisance. He was booked at WCPD headquarters in Hawthorne, and released pending an appearance in Peekskill City Court on May 19.

WCPD says that the arrest was the result of an investigation that began in the fall. County police received several complaints that someone was placing tree limbs, smaller branches and other debris at the bottom of a descending rock face on a path frequently used by mountain bikers.

County police officers, park rangers and park personnel started regular inspections of the remote location where the incidents were taking place.

An association of mountain bikers, at its own expense, placed a trail camera in the area of the rock face, also known as a granite roller by mountain biking enthusiasts.

You can see the trail video here:

A potential suspect was identified, but police say there was insufficient evidence at the time to bring a charge.

However, based on video more recently captured by that trail camera, Jarvis was formally charged on Tuesday.

Blue Mountain Reservation is a 1,538-acre Westchester County park, in Peekskill and Cortlandt, with 20 miles of trails for mountain biking and additional trails for hiking, horseback riding and nature study.