This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
An Idaho man who was shot and wounded last week in an "exchange of gunfire" with an armed Utah emergency medical technician was charged Monday with attempted murder.
Cade M. Austin, 30, of Preston, was charged in Logan's 1st District Court with two counts of first-degree felony attempted murder, as well as misdemeanor counts driving under the influence, interference with arresting police officer, reckless driving and open container in vehicle on highway.
The attempted murder counts are punishable by up to life in prison.
During a Monday court appearance, Judge Kevin Allen appointed an attorney for Austin, who was ordered held without bail at the Cache County jail.
A scheduling hearing was set for Jan. 4.
The shooting episode occurred on Dec. 15 at about 12:45 p.m., when Austin — who was traveling on U.S. Highway 91 about a mile south of the Idaho border — crashed into a large natural gas regulating device, which began to spew gas, Logan police Chief Gary Jensen wrote in a news release.
The first responders were EMTs from Smithfield City Fire Department, including Assistant Chief Jeremy Hunt, who also is a reserve officer for North Park police.
As the EMTs approached the car, Austin "was reportedly not appropriate and not cooperative," Jensen wrote.
He "produced a firearm, pointing it at the EMT first responders," Jensen wrote.
Hunt, who has a concealed firearms license, was carrying a gun.
"... it is believed there was an exchange of gunfire, followed by a rapid retreat of all personnel to positions of cover," Jensen wrote.
As law enforcement officers arrived, a "standoff" continued from 1:04 p.m. to 2:18 p.m., Jensen wrote.
Austin "remained in his car, appeared to be wounded in the exchange of gunfire, but continued to gesture at police and [wave] what appeared to be a gun," Jensen wrote. "The scene was dangerously exacerbated by the gas line continuing to forcefully expel natural gas into the air and surrounding area."
SWAT officers from Cache County and Logan arrived, as did a natural gas line repair crew — but the teams were stalled by what Jensen previously described as "competing safety issues."
The SWAT team could not safely engage an armed suspect while the area was potentially exposed to combustible gas, and the natural gas crew could not safely repair the leak near an armed suspect, Jensen said.
Authorities say he still refused to get out of his car and continued to drink from a bottle of Crown Royal whiskey until he passed out more than an hour into the standoff, according to The Associated Press.
SWAT officers then removed him from the car and took him to a Logan hospital, where he was then flown to an Ogden hospital.
No one else was wounded by gunfire.
Crews stopped the flow of natural gas to the ruptured line after Austin was removed.