Idaho man accused of shooting Eagle police officer has bail set at $2 million
Matthew S. Kelly, 21, of Emmett, was arraigned via video on Tuesday afternoon in the shooting of an Eagle police officer and had bail set at $2 million.
Kelly is charged with felony counts of aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer with an enhancement of using a deadly weapon, grand theft and eluding a peace officer. He also was charged with two felony counts of burglary in a separate case from earlier in July, according to a press release from the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office.
Kelly’s next court appearance is a preliminary hearing scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on July 23.
During a press conference Monday afternoon, Ada County Sheriff Stephen Bartlett said Ada County’s Star and Eagle police units were called to help look for a suspect after a motorcycle was stolen in Canyon County. The city of Eagle contracts its police force through the Sheriff’s Office.
The Eagle officer, who has not yet been identified, tried to stop Kelly, who was driving a yellow motorcycle, near the intersection of Beacon Light Road and Idaho 16 north of Star on Monday morning. Kelly got off the motorcycle and the officer tried to get out of his car to follow on foot, Bartlett said.
“Initial information indicates it was when the officer stopped his patrol car to investigate that Kelly opened fire, shooting into the officer’s car, hitting and injuring him,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a Monday evening news release. “The officer then returned fire.”
The injured officer was transported to a local hospital where he underwent surgery. An update on his condition was not available Tuesday, but Bartlett said Monday that he was expected to live and had been upgraded from critical to stable condition prior to surgery Monday afternoon.
Kelly fled on foot into a cornfield and eventually turned himself in peacefully, according to Bartlett.
The maximum punishment for aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer is up to 30 years in prison and up to a $100,000 fine. The weapon enhancement carries up to an additional 15 years.
