By ZEINAB NAJM
Times-Herald Newspapers
DEARBORN — Ayman Doppke of Dearborn pled guilty Aug. 20 to illegally climbing Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, and has been fined $1,500, the Associated Press reported.
Charges of disorderly conduct and violating an area closure were dismissed by prosecutors. Doppke was seen on the mountain just after 11:30 a.m. Aug. 19.
Court documents show that dispatchers reported to “a climber being seen on Mt. Rushmore on the top of George Washington’s head” and was creating a “hazardous condition” by climbing an unsafe slope, falling and forcing law enforcement to track him down.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, Doppke said he figured rangers were going to try to catch him so he decided to go down the steepest and most dangerous route in order to escape, the AP reported.
Doppke fell 25 feet and tumbled down a loose gravel slope, but was treated by a medic after his arrest. He declined to be taken to a hospital.
The AP said a phone number for Doppke couldn’t be found.
(Zeinab Najm can be reached at [email protected])