Sentencings shed light on what happened during 2025 Boise neighborhood shooting
Court proceedings this month revealed that a shooting in a north Boise neighborhood in 2025 that left one person injured stemmed from a robbery committed by two men — one out on felony bond and another on probation.
The two men, Bennett Lembke and William Crowell, each pleaded guilty to one count of robbery and have been sentenced to prison terms that guarantee neither man will be eligible for parole soon.
In early September, the Boise Police Department notified the public that a man, identified as Lembke, was arrested in Washington state after police alleged he shot and robbed a man in the Sunset neighborhood, which sits just west of the North End.
Lembke was charged with robbery, burglary, aggravated battery, enhanced use of a deadly weapon and possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. He signed an agreement to enter a guilty plea on the robbery charge, and the other four charges were dismissed.
A few weeks after the shooting, Crowell was arrested and charged with robbery. He pleaded guilty to that charge in February.
Lembke appeared in court earlier this month, and 4th District Judge Peter Barton handed down a 20-year sentence, with eight years fixed before he could be eligible for parole. Crowell received his sentence in March: 14 years, with four years fixed.
Court records showed that during the time of the shooting, Lembke was on probation for previous drug-related convictions and Crowell was out on bond in a case in which he was charged aggravated battery.
A robbery turned into a shooting
On Sept. 6, Boise police officers found a man who had been shot and had serious but non-life-threatening injuries. He was located in front of a house on West Forsythia Drive just before 11 p.m, according to a police news release. The victim was taken to the hospital and released days later, the Statesman previously reported.
BPD spokesperson Haley Williams told the Statesman that police believed the incident was isolated. Neither Williams nor court documents indicated whether the victim and suspects knew each other.
After investigating, police identified Lembke as the suspect and issued an arrest warrant, the release stated. He was arrested on Sept. 10 in Thurston County, Washington, according to police. He was booked into the jail there on suspicion of robbery and aggravated battery, and then in October Lembke was extradited to Idaho and taken into custody at the Ada County Jail.
Williams told the Statesman that Crowell was arrested a few weeks after the incident.
Ada County Deputy Prosecutor Katelyn Farley stated during Lembke’s sentencing that video evidence showed he threatened the victim, took his phone and cash, and that all of that preceded a “struggle over the gun.”
The video also showed that the victim was shot before being able to “wrestle the gun away” from Lembke, who was then chased away from the scene.
Ada County Deputy Prosecutor Ammon Judy said Crowell was involved as the “getaway driver.”
Out on bond, out on parole
Court records show that Lembke was on probation after completing mental health treatment through the Idaho Department of Correction for drug-related charges filed in 2022. His probation was scheduled to be completed in November 2025.
“This defendant was the one that entered into the victim’s home, pointed the gun at him and demanded money,” Farley stated during the sentencing hearing. “He was not supposed to have a weapon, let alone use it to threaten someone, and ultimately that weapon being used to harm someone.”
Farley called the incident an “unprovoked violent attack,” but Lembke’s defense attorney, Randall Barnum, said his client didn’t have a past of violent offenses and that this incident was an “outlier.”
Barnum also said that while Lembke had a firearm, he did not have “any intention of ever using it.” Barnum argued that the struggle over the firearm was what led to it being discharged.
“I believe this was someone who made some very poor decisions, stopped taking their mental health medications, began using again, which led him down a very dangerous path and resulted in this particular offense,” Barnum said.
Lembke addressed the court and said he had relapsed, and he expressed remorse.
“While that doesn’t excuse what happened, your honor, I really just want to get this part of my life behind me and get back to being a safe and productive member of society that I know I can be,” Lembke said.
Both prosecuting and defense attorneys agreed to a 14-year sentence in the plea deal for Crowell, which the judge ultimately handed down. Both acknowledged Crowell’s criminal history.
In March 2025, Crowell was charged with aggravated battery, domestic violence with traumatic injury, possession of a controlled substance and witness intimidation. He pleaded guilty to aggravated battery, and the other charges were dropped by prosecutors.
Crowell was out on bond while awaiting sentencing in that case, Judy said, and court records confirmed that.
“He has so regularly engaged in violent and theft-related offenses that it is apparent he is a risk to this community,” Judy said at Crowell’s sentencing.
Crowell told the court that he wanted to make the best out of his time in prison.
“While I’m in prison I’m going to do what I need to do and take up the programs I need to better myself as a man mentally and spiritually as well,” Crowell said.
