Driver who severely injured two women last summer in Boise agrees to plea deal
The man who authorities said ran a light in downtown Boise at up to 80 mph before injuring bystanders has pleaded guilty and could face decades in prison.
Boise resident Jacob Miller, 47, ran the red light in June 2024 and hit two women at the intersection of 11th and Main streets, Ashley Wardle, a legal intern for the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office, previously said in court.
Wardle said Miller continued to drive through downtown, hitting curbs and other vehicles, and narrowly avoided a bicyclist.
Miller eventually crashed into another vehicle over three miles away and was detained by four young men until officers arrived, according to previous Idaho Statesman reporting.
Nearly ten months after the incident, Miller pleaded guilty to two felonies for aggravated driving under the influence and to being a persistent violator, according to plea agreement documents filed with Ada County on Sunday evening.
The case previously had been scheduled to go to a jury trial in July.
The plea agreement outlined that a judge could sentence him to up to 30 years fixed for the DUIs and up to life for being a persistent violator.
An Ada County judge will decide the final sentence. No sentencing date has been set, according to court records.
Prosecutors dropped all other charges as part of the plea agreement, including two felony counts of leaving the scene of an accident, three misdemeanors for failing to notify owners after striking their vehicles and a misdemeanor for resisting arrest.
Both women were hospitalized with life-threatening conditions from the incident, including traumatic brain injuries and broken bones.
Wardle said in court that the first victim was thrown at least 15 feet after being struck and that the second was stuck on Miller’s car for several blocks, finally falling off when he swerved to avoid another vehicle.
Miller’s blood alcohol content was 0.214, or almost three times the legal limit of 0.08, when the crash occurred, according to the criminal complaint.
Miller stated in the plea agreement that he had been diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury, but it’s unclear if he obtained that injury in the crashes.
Prior to the plea agreement, a hearing had been scheduled for Monday afternoon to discuss Miller’s claim that a heart attack or a misfiring pacemaker had played a role in the incident.
Prosecutors denied this claim, pointing to medical evidence. The Ada County Prosecutor’s Office asked 4th District Judge Jason Scott in a nine-page motion to prevent this argument from being brought up at trial.
