Thistle resident Shirrel R. Young, who in July tried to stop the demolition of the old U.S. 89 bridge that crossed the Spanish Fork River near his property, will not serve any jail time if he pays a $50 fine.
Young was found guilty of disorderly conduct, a class C misdemeanor, last month following a trial. He was sentenced Tuesday to 10 days in jail and fined $100, but the jail sentence and $50 of the fine will be suspended if Young pays the remaining $50.On July 28 when demolition workers were preparing to set off a test charge at the bridge, Young stood a few feet from the bridge on his property and refused to leave. Young, who has two trailers about 100 feet from the bridge, was arrested by Utah County deputy sheriffs and taken into custody. He said he was trying to protect his property and save the bridge because swallows used it for nesting.
Workers ended up abandoning the test blast and trying to bring the bridge down with about 300 pounds of explosives. The bridge withstood the blast, and workers came back the next day and destroyed the bridge with more than 1,000 pounds of explosives.