Boy Scouts Boot Rock-Topplers

One of the men filed disability lawsuit
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 22, 2013 12:58 AM CDT
Boy Scouts Boot Rock-Topplers
This frame grab shows a Boy Scouts leader looking over an ancient Utah desert rock formation at Goblin Valley State Park, which he later knocked down.    (AP Photo/Dave Hall)

No merit badges for these guys: A pair of Boy Scout leaders who filmed themselves knocking over an ancient rock formation in a Utah national park have been chucked out of the organization. A spokesman for Boy Scouts of America said the organization was "saddened by this irresponsible display of behavior and apparent disregard for our natural surroundings," NPR reports. Criminal charges may still be filed over the Goblin Valley incident.

The two men insisted that they toppled the boulder to protect other visitors from a possible rock fall, but park officials say they do not believe the rock posed an imminent danger to anybody. In a strange twist, it has emerged that one of the men filed a lawsuit last month claiming he sustained "serious, permanent, and debilitating injuries" when his truck was rear-ended four years ago, reports the Deseret News. "I was a little bit surprised that the man who pushed over this 2,000-pound rock formation was suing me for disability," says the other driver, who was 16 at the time of the crash. (More Boy Scouts of America stories.)

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