Man sentenced to probation after RV fire, warehouse gunfire in Park City

A Summit County judge put William Dougherty on three years of supervised probation after he pleaded guilty to a case that began with an RV fire in Silver Creek Estates and ended with gunfire inside a Park City Mountain warehouse in Bonanza Park.

Judge Richard Mrazik had already imposed a one-year jail term for reckless burning and up to 15 years in prison for property damage, but suspended both sentences in favor of probation. The result kept Dougherty under court supervision after a case that combined arson, burglary, theft and a loaded rifle recovered by investigators, a sequence that drew attention because it unfolded in and around one of Park City’s most visible resort corridors.

The case started on Sept. 6, 2025, when neighbors on Whileaway Road in Silver Creek Estates reported hearing an explosion and seeing Dougherty drive away in a truck as his recreational vehicle burned. The Park City Fire District extinguished the motorhome fire, and Park City Fire Marshal Mike Owens later classified the blaze as intentional. Prosecutors then said Dougherty broke into a Park City Mountain warehouse later that day and fired multiple rounds inside while the building was unoccupied.

Investigators said a loaded AR-15-style rifle was found in Dougherty’s vehicle after his arrest, along with ammunition consistent with what had been found at the warehouse. Charging documents said Vail Resorts estimated more than $5,000 in damage to the warehouse, while other reported losses included more than $9,000 to a truck and $1,325 to a bicycle. The original case included charges of aggravated burglary, property damage, reckless burning and theft.

Dougherty pleaded guilty in Summit County’s Third District Court in March, and the sentence entered Monday closed a case that had moved through months of criminal filings after initial charges were filed in October 2025. The outcome leaves a legal record that still reflects the seriousness of the events, even without a prison term.

The setting made the case especially notable in Park City. The warehouse sits in Bonanza Park near Park Avenue and Kearns Boulevard, close to Recycle Utah, the Iron Horse district and Munchkin Road. For a resort town where employees, contractors, visitors and nearby businesses share the same streets and work sites, the combination of fire, gunfire and property damage raised immediate concerns about safety at a major employer’s facility and confidence in how the county punishes disruptive property crimes.