Employees at Strawberry Park Hot Springs were attempting to get customers to go home so they could close up on Saturday night, May 6, when an apparently disgruntled customer allegedly pulled out a pistol and pointed it directly at an employee.

The man who’s accused of pulling the gun now faces a Class 5 felony charge for menacing and a misdemeanor charge for prohibited use of a firearm. 

The arrest affidavit shows employees at Strawberry Park Hot Springs reported a confrontation with a male customer after ordering people to leave the premises. One of the employees who was dealing with this confrontation got into his vehicle and locked himself inside to avoid the angry customer.

---

---

Arrest records describe the employee looking up from the window of his car and finding a gun pointed at him. The employee reported seeing the weapon and said the gun was pointed at him for approximately 15 seconds from a distance of about 20 feet. At one point, the employee ducked in fear of being shot, but the weapon was never discharged.

The suspect then left the premises. 

---

---

According to the affidavit, a few moments after the incident, Steamboat Springs police officers observed a white Subaru Outback with Colorado plates disregarding a stop sign and going at a high rate of speed in the area of Fish Creek Falls Road and Amethyst Drive. Officers pulled over the vehicle and identified the driver as 46-year-old Tyson Baker.

A call had been placed to law enforcement regarding the incident at Strawberry Park, so the officers were privy to the situation and knew the person who was reported for displaying the gun was driving a white Subaru Outback. 

---

Get the top stories in your inbox every morning. Sign up here: steamboatpilot.com/newsletter

---

The arrest record shows that when asked about the situation, Baker said it was a man in a lifted pickup truck who had the gun. However, his claim was contradicted by CCTV security camera recordings that show Baker chambering a live round and aiming the gun at the employee, according to the arrest record.

Steamboat Springs Police officers performed a sweep of Baker’s vehicle and found a SIG Sauer 9mm pistol with two loaded magazines and a single loose round. 

The officer on scene reported Baker having a strong odor of alcohol. The officer noted that Baker’s words were slurred and his eyes were bloodshot and glassy. The arrest record stated that Baker was arrested for threatening the employee’s life and safety and for being in possession of a firearm while under the influence. 

Baker is scheduled to appear in court for a status conference June 7.