BOISE, Idaho — A fourth suspect was named Thursday in connection to the escape of an Idaho white supremacist prison gang member and an accomplice after a Boise hospital ambush on March 20.
Tia J. Garcia, 27, of Twin Falls is facing a felony charge of aiding and abetting for her involvement in planning Skylar Meade's escape, along with two other accomplices, according to the Boise Police Department.
According to court documents obtained by KTVB, Garcia picked up Nicholas Umphenour, who acted as Meade's accomplice in the officer ambush, from the Boise Airport on March 17. She also provided Umphenour and Meade with the getaway vehicle, a Honda Civic registered to her name.
Surveillance video from various places around Boise show Umphenour and Garcia together on March 17, according to the Associated Press (AP), who were present at Garcia's March 28 arraignment.
Garcia filed a false police report within an hour of escape stating that her vehicle had been stolen, as instructed by Umphenour, according to the affidavit. Shawn Kelley, of the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office, told the judge at Garcia's arraignment that Umphenour had told Garcia to file the report via text message the day before the crime, the AP reported.
Garcia was arrested the day after the escape, on March 21, for a different charge of probation/parole violation. After she was in custody and booked at the Twin Falls County Jail, investigators then connected her to Meade and believe she had knowledge of the planned escape and assisted in its planning and execution. She was then booked into the Ada County Jail.
"The Boise Police Department is continuing to work with our law enforcement partners to investigate these criminal acts and we remain dedicated to seeking justice for all victims," said Boise Police Chief Ron Winegar. "We are thankful for the coordination among law enforcement officers and prosecutors across the state of Idaho, who helped bring this dangerous situation to an end."
The coordinated prison inmate escape
At approximately 2 a.m. on March 20, Meade was transported by ambulance to Saint Alphonsus to receive medical treatment for self-inflicted wounds to his face and body, according to Idaho Department of Correction (IDOC) Director Josh Tewalt. Two IDOC officers accompanied Meade in the ambulance with additional armed IDOC staff following behind.
After Meade was treated, IDOC staff were preparing to transport him back to the prison when an unknown suspect, later identified as Umphenour, fired gunshots at officers hitting two of them, BPD said.
The two suspects then fled the hospital.
The escaped prisoner, Meade, and accomplice, Umphenour — both members of the Aryan Knights gang — were arrested in Twin Falls, Idaho, on March 21, 36 hours after Umphenour shot and wounded two Idaho corrections officers during the "preplanned violent ambush," police said.
A third suspect, Tonia Huber, 52, was arrested on March 21 on charges of eluding authorities, as well as possession of a controlled substance.
Investigators said that while on the run, Meade and Umphenour may have been responsible for the deaths of two men, one in Nez Perce County and the other in Clearwater County, both in northern Idaho, about seven hours away from where they were arrested.
"We believe that this was a coordinated attack, ambush on Department of Correction officers," Boise Police Department Chief Ron Winegar said of the escape. "Certainly a planned endeavor to free him from custody."
4th person charged for 'the planning and execution' of Boise hospital inmate escape
Three officers in total were injured in the escape. Officials said one officer is in critical but stable condition, another sustained serious, but non-life-threatening injuries, and the third officer was struck by a BPD officer W. Anderson and received care for the non-life-threatening injuries. Boise police said in a news release Thursday that Anderson has 27 years of law enforcement experience, including 12 years at BPD.
Meade, 31, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2017 for shooting at a sheriff’s sergeant during a high-speed chase. Umphenour was released from the same prison — the Idaho Maximum Security Institution in Kuna, south of Boise — in January. The two had at times been housed together and had mutual friends in and out of prison, officials said.
Meade, Umphenour and Garcia are all expected to appear before an Ada County judge on April 8. Huber is expected to appear in court on April 5. All four cases appear to be consolidated, meaning they may be tried together.
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