BPD Officer justified in deadly use of force incident near Texas Roadhouse

BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — A Boise Police Officer has been cleared of any wrongdoing in the shooting death of a suspect near the Texas Roadhouse on Fairview Ave. in January 2023.

The suspect was a man named Eli Nash. Nash was on probation after being convicted of two felony counts of sexual exploitation of a child by electronic means. Nash served his prison sentence for the conviction and was on parole, but after parole officers confiscated two electronic devices from his home that were found to contain more child pornography, Nash fled.

Parole officers, Idaho State Police, and Boise Police began searching for Nash, ultimately getting a tip that he could be living with a new girlfriend and her child in an apartment off of Fairview in Meridian.

BPD Officers in plain clothes found Nash sitting in his vehicle using his phone near the Texas Roadhouse on Fairview and Eagle Rd. According to the Office of Police Accountability report, the decision was made to box in Nash's car while four officers approached the vehicle to extricate and arrest Nash.

The report details that when officers approached Nash's car and called for him to exit the vehicle, he climbed into the backseat and pulled out a handgun. One of the Boise Police Officers was able to see Nash pointing the gun at officers through the rear windshield and opened fire at him.

Nash was killed at the scene.

The OPA report finds that the officer was justified in his use of deadly force under Idaho Code, though it does detail specific changes and recommendations to the department for similar encounters. One of the main issues with the handling of this operation was that officers were not specifically trained in assaulting a vehicle in this manner and that blocking Nash's vehicle in and calling for him to exit while officers remained behind cover could have increased both officer and suspect safety while allowing time to deescalate the situation.

ncG1vNJzZmihlJa1sLrEsKpnm5%2BifK%2Bx1qxmpaeTlrlwrs%2BdZKielp6wpr6Mo6ysrJmbtqawjKKlZpyVlrGtxYyuqp5ln5t6p7vRnJxmoZ6YtqWxza1kp52Rp3q1sdeaqmaqn5axqbvUrJxmqJ%2BhtqSxjKyfqKeknruoedKuqqmdk6l6rrHRopuimZ5ir7C10p5kopyRnbxuvMCrpqWdXZuyrbvNsg%3D%3D