Idaho
Idaho Falls man arrested after allegedly hitting man in the head with baseball bat in fight over guns – East Idaho News
IDAHO FALLS – A 27-year-old Idaho Falls man was arrested Sunday night after he allegedly hit another man in the head after being refused access to his guns.
Augustus Wyatt Gokey was charged with one felony count of aggravated assault causing great bodily harm. If he is found guilty, he faces up to five years in prison.
According to court documents, on Sunday around 10:30 p.m., an Idaho Falls Police officer responded to a report of a man being hit in the head with a baseball bat.
The document states that due to the nature of the call, the officer activated the patrol car’s emergency lights and sirens to get to the home as quickly as possible.
The officer reported that at the property, a man was seen through the window with a “large laceration to the left side of his forehead.”
The document states that the wounded man signaled the officer into the home. Once inside, the officer yelled, “Police!” and another man came out of the kitchen.
The man was later identified as Gokey. The officer reported that Gokey was “immediately agitated and appeared to be under the influence of something due to his large pupil size and profuse sweating.”
The officer asked Gokey if he had any weapons on him, and he responded he did not. The officer patted him down and found no weapons. He was later placed in handcuffs.
The officer spoke with the man who was hit, who was “bleeding pretty badly,” and when the officer asked if he needed any medical attention, he denied it.
Another officer arrived and began treating the wounded man, and the first officer spoke with Gokey.
Gokey told the officer that he’d been going through a lot, which involved “an ex-girlfriend having a child and that there were 30 men after him that he was afraid of.”
The officer asked who these men were, but Gokey told him he’d never tell.
When the officer asked him what happened at the home, Gokey said he was there to pick up a shotgun that he had stored at a safe, as he did not feel safe at his home.
Gokey told the officer the other man told him he could not have the gun and that the other man allegedly attacked him and pushed him away from the safe.
The officer asked how the other man got hurt, and Gokey said when he pushed the man off him, he fell and hit his head on a rowing machine in the basement near the safe.
When questioned about the baseball bat, Gokey said he brought it for protection and denied ever hitting the other man with it.
The officer said that during the interview with Gokey that he appeared to become irate and yell about things other things and had an odor of alcohol coming from him.
Gokey was later placed in the patrol car after he refused to calm down.
While being placed in the backseat of the patrol car, the officer asked Gokey if he had been using any drugs. Gokey replied he wasn’t and that he’d been clean for years, though he said he’d used heroin and fentanyl in the past.
The other officer who helped the wounded man told the first officer his side of the incident.
According to the man, Gokey came to the victim’s home to pick up a gun and had the baseball bat.
The victim refused to give the firearm to Gokey due to “his mental and physical state he was in, because he did not want anyone to get hurt.”
After the refusal, the man said Gokey had grabbed a grinder tool and was trying to get into the safe with it. The man told him to stop, and that’s when he said Gokey grabbed the bat.
Gokey waved the bat around in a motion, making it appear as if he was going to hit the man. The two then got into a scuffle over the bat, and at one point, he allegedly hit the victim in the forehead.
The document states there was blood on the barrel and the handle of the bat. The bat itself was taken as evidence.
Gokey is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing before 7th Judicial District Magistrate Judge Stephen Clark at 1 p.m. on March 28.
Though Gokey has been charged with these crimes, this does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
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PAYETTE — A Payette mom’s bond was revoked Tuesday after she was charged with suffocating her twin children earlier this month and is believed to pose a danger to the life of her newborn child.
The case, which has drawn national headlines, concerns Andrea Renee Shaw, a 23-year-old Payette mother who in May 2025 said her 18-month-old fraternal twins died the same day, after receiving routine childhood vaccinations. In January, Shaw joined as a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit filed by Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine organization founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., with several other plaintiffs claiming vaccine injury or death.
Kennedy, who now serves as secretary of Health and Human Services, is no longer part of the group after taking on the cabinet position, as was reported by the Associated Press.
In Idaho, the twins’ deaths prompted a 14-month investigation by the Payette County Sheriff’s Department. On June 29, the investigation yielded a grand jury indictment of Shaw on two counts of first-degree murder by suffocation. If convicted, Shaw can be punished by up to life in prison or the death penalty, and the court would have the ability to order the penalties be served consecutively, or back to back.
Tuesday’s arraignment at the Payette County Courthouse was primarily attended by Shaw’s relatives and members of the media. Payette County Judge Kiley Stuchlik, who serves Idaho’s Third Judicial District, presided.
A key consideration for Stuchlik on Tuesday was a request from Joseph Filicetti, the legal counsel for Shaw, to have her bond reduced from $2 million to $100,000. Filicetti said this would allow for Shaw to care for a newborn girl, who, according to court documents, was born by caesarean section on June 25, four days prior to Shaw’s grand jury indictment.
State prosecutors objected to the motion for bond reduction, noting at hand was a potential death penalty case and asserting, unlike her husband, Shaw’s story repeatedly changed during questioning. Prosecuting Attorney Mike Duke said releasing Shaw would ultimately put the newborn’s safety at risk.
“That child is the most at risk. We do not think she should be allowed to be anywhere near any children, let alone her own children,” Duke said.
Stuchlik decided to revoke bond entirely, stating Shaw posed a “risk of safety” to the newborn child that was not known to Stuchlik or prosecutors when the $2 million bond was initially set.
Also for consideration Tuesday was a request to have grand jury transcripts of witness testimony provided to prosecutors and defense counsel to prepare their respective cases.
Idaho
Idaho is home to the nation's first DarkSky Reserve. Now it's home to the nations first DarkSky Certified Resort
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – A controversy is brewing as the City of Idaho Falls reviews its alcohol ordinance.
The goal is to consolidate four existing ordinances for beer, wine and liquor into a single law and ensure compliance with state code.
However, at its meeting last Thursday, the Idaho Falls City Council unanimously voted to remove the proposed ordinance from its agenda, in order to receive and consider additional public comment.
The proposed ordinance would:
1. Require commercial establishments selling, dispensing or permitting consumption of alcohol – including beer, wine or liquor – to have an alcohol license, alcohol catering permit or a charitable event permit.
2. Business events with 20 or less employees consuming alcohol at the business would be allowed.
3. Require alcohol servers to complete training every three years.
4. Individuals who violate the law could be charged with a misdemeanor.
Idaho Falls City Council President Jim Francis said the changes were the culmination of months of collaboration between law enforcement, business owners and city attorneys.
“We wanted to provide a safe environment – the primary point here – for public gatherings,” Francis said. “We recognize that certain antiquated elements of the current code are overly restrictive and needed to be addressed. We wanted to make the code more accessible to the public. We needed to address over-pouring issues. We wanted to reduce penalties where possible for violations, particularly the first offenses, and yet make the code clear enough to be enforceable consistently by law enforcement.”
But City Council Member John Radford said the changes represent an overreach by city government.
“I believe it’s a bad policy. What problem are we solving in the name of trying to solve a non-problem?” Radford said. “We’re becoming big brother around alcohol in your private property. I’m concerned that landlords will be at risk of being charged with a misdemeanor if they knowingly, which I made sure that was in there, because that is what we’ve been talking about, allowed people to drink in our business. We will be outside the norm of Idaho cities. This is a big step, and I don’t think the public has weighed in on this.”
At a City Council Work Session on June 1, Idaho Falls Chief of Police Bryce Johnson cited an increase in alcohol-related crime – particularly downtown – as a reason for the changes.
“DUI is there, but this would include sexual assaults, assaults, batteries, disturbances, urination, public vandalism, shooting – all sorts of crimes,” Johnson said.
But business owners are concerned about the potential impact on commercial enterprises.
“The ordinance doesn’t address the real problem – which is people drinking … at one event and then showing up in a bar or restaurant already hammered and causing problems anyway,” ” said Terri Ireland, representing the Idaho Falls Downtown Merchants Association. “The industry is really well-regulated by state and local laws already.”
The City of Idaho Falls began the process of updating its alcohol ordinance in January 2026, seeking input from community stakeholders.
Multiple community members spoke out about the ordinance.
For more in-depth information, you can read the full 39-page proposed alcohol ordinance here.
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