ADAMS COUNTY, Idaho — Editor's note: Story updated Monday, June 12, 2023, with more information about the arrest and charges. It is also updated to reflect that criminal court proceedings are on hold pending a competency review.
After a late-night "coordinated effort" between law enforcement along the Idaho-Oregon border, and a high-speed chase near Cambridge, a man suspected of shooting at power generating facilities in the Hells Canyon Corridor has been arrested and is facing felony charges in two counties.
The Adams County Sheriff's Office said officers arrested 58-year-old Randy Vail early Friday. The sheriff's office also said Meridian Police and the FBI helped execute a search warrant at Vail's home in Meridian.
Vail is suspected of damaging Idaho Power equipment at Brownlee and Hells Canyon dams. The Adams County Sheriff's Office said it received a report at about 11:30 p.m. Thursday about a man shooting at the facilities.
"With a coordinated effort between multiple jurisdictions in Adams, Washington, Baker, and Wallowa Counties, the male was apprehended without incident," the sheriff's office said in its initial news release about the incident.
In a probable cause affidavit filed in Third District Court, a Washington County deputy wrote that he was called to the area of Brownlee Dam at about 12:26 a.m. Friday in response to a report that a man on a white sport motorcycle had fired rifle shots at that dam and at Hells Canyon Dam, leading to brief shutdowns at two substations. The deputy said he and another deputy spotted the motorcycle headed east on Highway 71 near Horseflat Road. According to the deputy's affidavit and the Washington County prosecutor's criminal complaint, Vail was going 80 mph in a 25-mph zone at one point as officers pursued him.
After Vail stopped, the deputy wrote, officers found that he had a case holding two rifles. They also reported finding bolt cutters and two tire-repair cans used to hold compressed air, "full of what smelled like gasoline." Another officer called the Nampa Police bomb squad, who advised that the cans were safe to move because there were not any electronics. However, the deputy wrote, knowing "he had improvised a metal container that, if shot, would have exploded, causing shrapnel to propel," he recommended he be charged with unlawful possession of an explosive device.
Vail is being held in the Washington County Jail on multiple felony charges, including eluding or attempting to elude an officer, possession of destructive devices, and malicious injury to property. Adams County is prosecuting Vail on the malicious injury to property charge; the other two counts are in Washington County. Bond was set at $250,000.
Minutes from Vail's initial court appearance on Friday indicate that he did not recognize the court's authority, and he refused to initial or sign a document advising him of his rights. The arresting deputy also stated that when he read Vail his Miranda rights, Vail told him he did not understand and asked to speak with an attorney.
The court has appointed an attorney for the limited purpose of meeting with Vail to determine his ability to understand the proceedings. The case is inactive pending the results of a competency evaluation.
A competency review hearing is scheduled for July 17 in Washington County. A preliminary hearing that was scheduled for June 23 has been vacated.
No one was injured in the incidents at the dams. The sheriff's office also said no Idaho Power customers experienced outages related to the incident. However, someone in the Weiser area who contacted KTVB early Friday morning mentioned "several power bumps."
Idaho Power is working to repair the damaged equipment.
Temporary road closures are in effect on Hells Canyon Road while Idaho Power crews use a crane to work on the dam.
The road over Hells Canyon Dam will be closed on June 13 and 14 and again on June 27 and 28 from 8 a.m. to noon and from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The crane will be moved to allow traffic to pass from noon to 1 p.m. each day. Flaggers will be on hand for the closures. Pedestrians will be allowed to cross when crews determine it is safe to do so.
According to a news release from Idaho Power, the crane will be used to hold workers while they clear vegetation from the face of the dam on June 13 and 14. The June 27-28 closure is for the installation of stoplogs necessary for testing of the dam's sluice gates.
The Hells Canyon and Brownlee dams, along with the Oxbow Dam, form Idaho Power's Hells Canyon Complex, which, according to the company, provides about 70% of Idaho Power's annual hydroelectric generation.
Watch more Local News:
See the latest news from around the Treasure Valley and the Gem State in our YouTube playlist: