Park City Man Pleads Guilty to RV Fire, Warehouse Shooting Charges

William Dougherty, a Park City Mountain employee, pleaded guilty last week in Summit County's Third District Court to felony property damage and reckless burning, capping a case that began with an RV fire in Silver Creek Estates and ended with rifle rounds fired inside a ski resort warehouse. Sentencing is scheduled for 10 a.m. on April 17.

The trouble started the morning of Sept. 6, 2025, on Whileaway Road, where a neighbor heard an explosion and looked outside to find Dougherty's motorhome engulfed in flames. She watched him climb into his truck and drive away while residents and first responders scrambled to contain the blaze. Park City Fire District crews extinguished the fire before it reached any surrounding structures. Neighbor Drew Lederer captured the scene on video and posted it to Instagram; residents told KPCW that smoke from the fire, initially reported around noon, was visible for miles. No one was injured. Park City Fire Marshal Mike Owens later confirmed the fire occurred at Dougherty's address and said the cause, while not fully determined, was classified as "intentional."

Later that same afternoon, security cameras recorded Dougherty shooting his way into a Park City Mountain Resort warehouse in Bonanza Park, a low-slung commercial corridor tucked between Recycle Utah, the Iron Horse district and Munchkin Road. Charging documents state he fired rounds from a rifle directly into the door to force entry, then continued shooting inside the building, peppering the ceiling and walls with bullet holes. Before leaving, he grabbed a bottle of bourbon from an office refrigerator. Lt. Danielle Snelson, a Park City police spokesperson, said the warehouse was unoccupied at the time and that officers arrived on scene around 2:25 p.m. after a separate employee discovered the damage. The property damage to the warehouse was estimated at more than $5,000. Gunfire also struck an employee's truck parked outside, causing more than $9,000 in damage, and hit a bicycle inside the building valued at $1,325.

Police arrested Dougherty near the Deer Valley Resort parking lot later that day. Court papers state officers found an AR-15-style rifle in his vehicle loaded with the same ammunition recovered inside the warehouse.

Prosecutors initially charged Dougherty in October with six counts: aggravated burglary, a first-degree felony; two counts of second-degree felony property damage exceeding $5,000; one count of property damage between $500 and $1,499, a class A misdemeanor; reckless burning, a class A misdemeanor; and theft of property valued under $500, a class B misdemeanor. Under the plea agreement, he admitted guilt to one second-degree felony count of property damage greater than $5,000 and the class A misdemeanor count of reckless burning, with the remaining charges dismissed.

The felony property damage conviction carries a sentence of one to 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. The reckless burning misdemeanor carries up to one year in jail and a $2,500 fine. A judge will weigh those exposures when Dougherty appears for sentencing at Third District Court on April 17.