Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to toke we go

Boulder police allege 'bridge trolls' sought tolls to fire up big roll

Michael Malik, Rocky Mountain News

Published July 14, 2006 at midnight

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As if Boulder isn't odd enough already, now it has bridge trolls.

Two men recently attempted to charge people a dollar to cross a bridge in a park near the intersection of Foothills Highway and Colorado Avenue and allegedly threatened to stab an off-duty sheriff's deputy with a broken golf club after he refused to pay.

Witnesses said they heard the two shouting lines from the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail about how people "shall not pass."

The Boulder County Sheriff's Office gave the following account:

As sheriff's Sgt. Kevin Parker tried to cross the bridge on his bike, Robert Hibbs, 19, and Bradley Boville, 18, asked for a dollar.

When Parker refused, Hibbs allegedly told Boville to "go stab that guy," prompting Parker to dial 911.

Hibbs grew increasingly aggressive and charged at Parker as he waited for officers to arrive. Parker had earlier managed to wrestle a golf club from Hibbs and struck him in the shoulder area, apparently not fazing him.

When officers arrived and took the pair into custody, they admitted taking LSD and tried to explain their bridge troll act as a "bad trip."

Police found a marijuana joint hanging out of Boville's pocket, and the two told officers they were trying to raise money so they could buy a lighter to smoke the "very large" joint, which was made out of several dollar bills.

While the officers were questioning Boville, they noticed loud music coming from a nearby residence, which Boville said was his.

Officers reported seeing several marijuana pipes and a water pipe through an open sliding-glass door. A search yielded 11 pipes and 3 grams of marijuana.

Hibbs was charged with menacing and possession of LSD. Boville was charged with menacing and possession of less than an ounce of marijuana.

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