Update: Third suspect in Boise hospital prisoner escape arrested. Court sets bonds
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Boise hospital ambush, homicides
An ambush at a Boise hospital left three Department of Correction officers with gunshot wounds and two suspects, including an escaped prisoner, fleeing from the scene. Police said the suspects, while they eluded capture, killed two men in North Idaho.
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A third person was arrested with the two suspects accused of coordinating an ambush at a Boise hospital early Wednesday morning that left three Department of Correction officers with gunshot wounds, Lori Stewart, a victim witness coordinator for Twin Falls County, told the Idaho Statesman.
Tonia Huber, 52, was arrested Thursday alongside prisoner Skylar Meade and Nicholas Umphenour, who were accused of the coordinated attack, and Huber was believed to be involved in Meade’s escape, Stewart said. Huber, of Filer, was charged with three felonies: harboring a fugitive, eluding, and possessing a controlled substance, Twin Falls Magistrate Judge Benjamin Harmer said in court Friday afternoon.
Huber also had a warrant out for her arrest after she missed a court date last year, Harmer said. Online court records showed Huber was charged with misdemeanor petit theft in May 2023.
Police said IDOC officers at around 2 a.m. Wednesday were transporting Meade, 31, back to prison after being treated for a self-inflicted wound, when Umphenour, 28, attacked the officers at the ambulance bay and shot two of them. Boise police said both suspects fled in a vehicle before police arrived, and that a third officer was shot by police.
Boise Police Chief Ron Winegar at a news conference announced they found the suspects in the Twin Falls area by Thursday afternoon, after a statewide search and a Blue Alert, which is used for suspects who injured law enforcement and are believed to be a public threat.
Both Meade and Umphenour also appeared in court Friday. Meade and Umphenour’s bonds were set at $2 million as part of the warrants that were issued for their arrests, Harmer said. Unless the men post their bonds, they’ll be extradited to Ada County to appear before a judge.
Harmer set Huber’s bond at $505,000.
Huber was driving a vehicle at the time of her arrest, Stewart said, but she declined to say whether she was driving a vehicle with the other two suspects. Twin Falls County Prosecutor Grant Loebs said Huber was driving 100 miles an hour through Twin Falls neighborhoods in an attempt to further the escape of Meade and Umphenour.
“This is a case that spanned out of her allegedly harboring two fugitives who were on the run having escaped and possibly committed more violent crimes by the time they reached her,” Loebs said in court Friday.
Loebs said the nature of the crimes and Huber’s “involvement with two even more serious criminals” warranted a bond of $500,000. He said prosecutors wanted to keep her from fleeing the area. Huber’s public defender argued for a lower bond of $50,000, adding that Huber has ties to the community, and has a job and two grandchildren she supports.
Police said Meade and Umphenour are both members of the Aryan Knights, a white supremacist prison gang known for targeting incarcerated people of color. Police at the Thursday news conference also said the two suspects are now linked to two homicides, one in Clearwater County and another in Nez Perce County.
This story was originally published March 22, 2024 at 11:28 AM.
