The Goose Chase to Capture a White Supremacist Inmate is One of 2024’s Biggest L’s
In the past year, the nation witnessed nearly a dozen prison escapes. Though, the latest inmate to wiggle out the grasp of police custody is the last person we’d want to see on the loose: a white supremacist gang member.
Idaho police announced in a press conference last week that the goose-chase for 31-year-old Skylar Meade has finally ended.
Police also said he’s a member of the Aryan Knights. The Knights are known as Idaho’s largest white supremacist prison gang, per the Anti-Defamation League. Back in 2017, a jury sentenced Meade to serve 20 years in prison for shooting at a sheriff’s sergeant during a high-speed chase, according to the Associated Press. Meade’s new home after trial was the Idaho Maximum Security Institution in Kuna where he met another gang member, Nicholas Umphenour, who was released from the prison at the beginning of this year.
However, police say the two continued to communicate with one another to conspire a way to free Meade from his shackles.
Read about the plot from The New York Post:
Police said Nicholas Umphenour is suspected of shooting two corrections officers during Wednesday’s ambush in the ambulance bay at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center.
The attack occurred at 2:15 a.m. as Idaho Department of Correction officers prepared to bring Meade back to prison. Department Director Josh Tewalt said during a news conference Wednesday afternoon that Meade was taken to the hospital at 9:35 p.m.
[Umphenour] and inmate Skylar Meade drove off early Wednesday after the shooting in a gray 2020 Honda Civic with Idaho plates.
The day the two went on the run, Clearwater County and Nex Perce County officials announced they responded to calls that evening and found two deceased men, one of which was found with prison shackles nearby. Now, authorities question whether the Aryan Knight brothers are connected to the killings. The identities of the victims were not disclosed.
Authorities said Thursday, the duo were arrested after a brief car chase in Twin Falls.
As they investigate the killings, the state department of corrections vowed to review their policies and practices to understand how Meade wiggled from the cops’ grip and how to prevent it from happening again, per The AP.
It’s unclear what charges Meade will face in connection to the incident. However, police said they issued a warrant for Umphenour on charges of aggravated battery against law enforcement and aiding and abetting an escape.
