The State - News from March 1, 1985

Two men who allegedly plowed into a fellow skier last New Year’s Eve and left him fatally injured on a Heavenly Valley slope have been charged with failing to help the dying man. El Dorado County Assistant Dist. Atty. Jerry Lasarow said that David Spacek, 24, San Jose and Chris Martin, 37, Redwood City were charged under a 1977 California law stating that anyone involved in a ski accident must help the injured person or call for medical assistance. The penalty for conviction is a fine of $1,000. Authorities said the two men allegedly collided with Herbert L. Polakoff, 48, of Skokie, Ill., then skied away without helping the fallen man, even though it was obvious that he was injured. Polakoff died at a South Lake Tahoe hospital. Lasarow said Martin called authorities after reading of the incident in a newspaper. On Wednesday, Martin told the San Jose Mercury News, “I was not involved, but I guess I have to prove that.”