An intense manhunt for inmate Syklar Meade and his alleged escapee, Nicholas Umphenour, ended Thursday as the two were arrested by authorities in Twin Falls, Idaho – 130 miles from the scene of a brazen shooting that injured 3 officers.
Idaho State Police announced the news in a statement, saying both men were taken into custody shortly after 2 p.m. local time “without further incident or injury” following a “vehicle pursuit involving multiple law enforcement agencies.”
A third person was arrested with them: a woman named Tonya Huber, who prosecutors say may have helped them while they were on the run. the Today show reported. She was driving one of the cars when Meade, 31, and Umphenour, 28, were arrested.
Manhunt underway for Idaho inmate after inmate escapes hospital, leaves three police officers dead
Idaho State Police Lt. Col. Sheldon Kelley said at a news conference that Meade and Umphenour may be connected to two murders of grown men while eating lamb: one in Nez Perce County and one in Clearwater County. Both occurred while the men were outside, and at the scene of one of the murders, shackles believed to have been worn by Meade when he escaped were found.
Meade and Umphenour are both members of the Aryan Knights, a white supremacist group. The two overlapped at a maximum security facility in Idaho from December 2020 to January 2024, Idaho Department of Corrections (IDOC) Director Josh Tewalt told KTVB.
At the time, authorities believe the two coordinated an escape plan.
It started Tuesday when Meade — who was still behind bars, serving nearly eight years of a 20-year sentence for shooting a deputy during a high-speed chase in 2016 — was taken to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center for self-inflicted wounds.
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Idaho State Police
According to the Boise Police Department, hours later (around 2:15 a.m. local time Wednesday) officers from the Idaho Department of Corrections (IDOC) began transporting Meade back behind bars. But they were quickly ambushed by a man later identified by Umphenour, who allegedly opened fire on them in the infirmary.
During the shooting, two prison officers were shot. A third correctional officer, in the chaos of the incident, was mistakenly shot at the entrance to the emergency room, police say, by a security guard who came to the scene and believed the officer was the shooter.
All three officers survived, but Meade and Umphenour fled in a gray 2020 Honda Civic with Idaho license plates. The car was located in northern Idaho on Thursday, police said Thursday.
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“What we do know, with almost certainty, this was not an accident,” explained Josh Tewalt, director of the Department of Corrections. “This was a planned event. And we’re putting every resource we have into trying to figure out exactly how they planned it.”
Meade and Umphenour will be arraigned in Twin Falls District Court on Friday at 1:30 p.m., according to Twin Falls County District Attorney Grant Loebs, NBC News reported. It is unclear whether both received the council.
As for the murder, police said the names of the victims and the cause of death will be released at a later date. The investigation into the murder is still ongoing.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education