Idaho man gets 20-day jail sentence, license suspension in fatal Eagle crash

A judge on Monday sentenced a 52-year-old man to 20 days of jail time and two years of supervised probation, and also ordered his driver’s license suspended for two years, for causing the death of another motorist in a 2019 crash in Eagle.

John R. Bowden pleaded guilty to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter in the June death of Steven Hatcher, 64. The Ada County Prosecutor’s Office sought a 90-day jail sentence, two years of supervised probation and a five-year license suspension.

“It’s clear to this court that it was your driving that caused the death of Steven Hatcher,” Ada County Magistrate Judge David Manweiler said in court. “The benefit of arriving a few seconds earlier resulted in the violent death of someone’s son, someone’s brother, someone’s uncle, someone’s co-worker and someone’s friend.”

Manweiler said Bowden’s jail time would be served as 10 days of Sheriff’s Office inmate labor duty and 100 hours of public service time. He gave Bowden a withheld judgment, which means that Bowden can seek dismissal of the case if he successfully completes his sentence.

The crash occurred on June 11, 2019. Bowden was driving east on State Street and turning north on Eagle Road at a blinking yellow light when he failed to yield and collided with Hatcher’s vehicle. Hatcher died at the scene.