Skylar Meade and Nicholas Umphenour: Idaho prison gang members nabbed after being linked to hospital ambush
Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers’ discretion advised.
IDAHO: Law enforcement officials apprehended Skylar Meade, an Idaho prison gang member, and his accomplice, Nicholas Umphenour, after their escape following a harrowing attack on corrections officers at a Boise hospital.
The duo's arrest comes amid investigations into their potential involvement in two homicides while on the run.
Prison escapees linked to dual homicide
The arrest occurred during a routine traffic stop in Twin Falls, approximately 130 miles away from the site of their escape on Thursday, March 21. Authorities disclosed that they were investigating two homicides in Nez Perce and Clearwater counties, where the suspects' vehicle was later found.
Shackles were found at one of the crime scenes and “that’s one of the ways we tied them together,” to the homicides, according to Idaho State Police Lt Colonel Sheldon Kelley. Meade, 31, previously sentenced to 20 years for shooting at a sheriff’s sergeant, is described as a white supremacist gang member, while Umphenour, recently released from prison, had prior associations with Meade.
Insights into hospital ambush
The ordeal began when Umphenour allegedly shot two corrections officers in an ambush at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, facilitating Meade's escape. Umphenour faces charges of aggravated battery against law enforcement and aiding an escape, per New York Post.
The attack left three corrections officers wounded, one critically. Despite the severity of the incident, Department of Correction Director Josh Tewalt reported that the wounded officers are stable, with one already released from the hospital.
Unraveling operations of White supremacist prison gangs
Meade's affiliation with a white supremacist gang sheds light on the prevalence of such groups within the prison system. The Aryan Knights, to which Meade belongs, have been involved in various criminal activities, drawing attention from law enforcement agencies and advocacy groups.
Mark Pitcavage, a senior research fellow at the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism, highlighted the operational dynamics of such gangs, emphasizing organized crime over ideology. “They use that as a sort of a glue to help keep them together and help keep them loyal to the gang,” he said.
