Dallas Restauranteur Wanted in Colorado
A warrant was issued in San Miguel County, Colorado, for Vandelay Hospitality Group CEO Hunter Pond on misdemeanor complaints of harassment and disorderly conduct — charges Pond’s attorney calls “a setup.”
Vandelay Hospitality Group operates Hudson House, Drake’s, D.L. Mack’s, East Hampton Sandwich Co., and more.
San Miguel County officials said the case is under Mountain Village Police jurisdiction. Mountain Village police say they’re unable to disclose records in the case as of Thursday, citing an ongoing investigation.
“The San Miguel County Sheriff, as the officer of the court, is directed by the court to execute the warrant whereas the municipal officers, in this case the Mountain Village Police, files the charges,” San Miguel County Sheriff’s office spokesperson Susan Lilly said. “The Judge issued this warrant for what the Sheriff can only assume to be proper reason. Mr. Pond should contact the court to seek resolution to this active warrant.”
Pond’s attorney, Jason Friedman, said the charges stem from an incident that happened when Pond and his family attended a wedding in Telluride in October.
Friedman said Pond and his wife and children were walking back to their hotel after the wedding when “a woman apparently driving in excess of the speed limit veered towards Mr. Pond, his wife, and their 2 small children–coming within two (2) feet of his family. The driver did not stop to see whether Mr. Pond or his family were injured.”
Friedman said Pond saw the same woman again in front of their hotel and Pond “voiced his displeasure with her actions.”
“She made some accusations that he used dirty words and he said that wasn’t true,” Friedman said. “Hunter is a businessman, he’s a father, he’s a good guy…it’d be out of character for him to use profanity.”
Friedman said police didn’t interview or arrest Pond for the incident at the time and he wasn’t aware of the charges or the warrant.
“This is a setup. There’s no explanation for somebody posting a wanted poster for a class C misdemeanor,” Friedman added.
Friedman added that Pond “intends to address the matter legally in the Colorado Court.”
Friedman’s office also provided a copy of a lawsuit they said they filed Thursday against the woman from the October incident, alleging assault. The lawsuit didn’t appear in online court records as of Thursday.
The lawsuit alleges the woman “veered” toward the Ponds and shouted at them to get off the road.
Per the lawsuit, when Pond confronted the woman outside the hotel, she “was extremely flippant about it, and like many millennials, did not want to take responsibility for her actions.”
Pond, 36, is a millennial himself.
Vandelay was sued in 2021 by a former employee alleging the “company’s culture has become shot through with racism, sexism, homophobia, and outright disdain for its employees and guests.”
Vandelay denied the claims in that lawsuit to local media.
