Man charged with targeting Boise LGBTQ community must undergo mental health treatment
An Ada County judge has found Matthew Lehigh unfit to have his case proceed in court, meaning the defendant in attacks on Boise’s LGBTQ community must undergo mental health treatment to have his competency restored before any trial can take place.
Lehigh is charged with three felony counts of aggravated assault, one felony count of arson and misdemeanor malicious injury to property related to recent incidents that included alleged vehicle attacks and the burning of a pride flag.
Upon his arrest, Lehigh was ordered to undergo a competency evaluation. At a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, Ada County Magistrate Judge Regan Jameson set a hearing date of Dec. 14 for the possible resumption of Lehigh’s case.
According to Idaho code, Lehigh will be in the custody of the Department of Health and Welfare for a period not exceeding 90 days at a hospital, institution or mental health center.
Crimes targeting LGBTQ community
Boise police arrested Lehigh on Oct. 12 after he allegedly yelled a homophobic slur at two women in a parking lot and drove his vehicle toward them. The women dodged his car, and he hit their vehicle and drove off, police said.
Police said they had been searching for a suspect already after receiving reports on Oct. 8 of a man yelling a homophobic slur and driving his vehicle toward someone else.
Days earlier, Boise police responded after someone burned a progress pride flag attached to a couple’s home in the North End. After Lehigh’s arrest, Boise police confirmed that he faced a charge of felony arson related to that incident.
During an arraignment on Oct. 13, Ada County Deputy Prosecutor Michael Guy said Lehigh also admitted to breaking a window at an LGBTQ center and stealing several pride flags in Boise’s North End neighborhood.
No charges have been added yet for his alleged vandalism of the LGBTQ center. That investigation is ongoing, Boise Police Department spokesperson Haley Kramer told the Idaho Statesman.
The Statesman found that the week of his arrest, Lehigh had posted over 25 YouTube videos threatening to hurt LGBTQ community members and claiming that he was experiencing “demon attacks.”
Boise police cannot pursue Lehigh’s actions as hate crime cases, the Statesman previously reported.
Idaho’s malicious harassment statute, commonly known as the hate crime law, refers to malicious harassment as the “intent to intimidate or harass another person because of that person’s race, color, religion, ancestry, or national origin.” The definition excludes sexual orientation and gender identity.
