BOISE, Idaho — Eagle Police Officer Brandon Austin left a Boise hospital Wednesday, two days after being shot while chasing a man suspected of stealing a motorcycle.
The Ada County Sheriff's Office posted video on its Facebook page of Austin leaving the hospital in a wheelchair, then getting into an SUV. Sheriff Stephen Bartlett was there to shake his hand and wish him well, while onlookers broke into applause. The officer then left the hospital with an escort of sheriff's vehicles.
We are told that Austin has been with the Ada County Sheriff's Office since March 2019 but is a law enforcement veteran, having worked as a cop in California since 2000 prior to coming to Idaho. This is the first time he's been in an officer-involved shooting.
The man charged with shooting Austin is 21-year-old Matthew Kelly of Emmett. He was arrested Monday and arraigned Tuesday on four felony charges including aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, grand theft, eluding an officer and use of a firearm during the commission of a crime. He is jailed on $2 million bond.
Police say that is all started with a report of a stolen dirt bike out of Canyon County around 7:30 Monday. Austin spotted the stolen motorcycle near the intersection of Highway 16 and Beacon Light Road. When the officer approached, Kelly sped off. The motorcycle later became disabled after a brief chase on River Birch golf course in Star.
During Tuesday's arraignment, Ada County prosecuting attorney Brett Judd said the officer approach Kelly and that's when he opened fire, striking him twice - once in the arm, shattering his humorous, and a second time in the shoulder that entered his chest cavity.
Judd called Kelly a professional burglar, someone who "breaks into people's homes at night and stealing things."
Kelly is also facing two felony burglary charges from a separate incident, two break-ins on Beacon Light Road that took place in the early morning of July 4.
The sheriff's office said Kelly and his father, Kevin Kelly, broke into two homes on that morning by force.
Residents of one of the homes told police that they woke up to a man in a hoodie with a red headlamp standing over their bed at about 5 a.m. on July 4. The woman told investigators that she startled the man and he then ran to the back of the home where another burglar was and the two then fled the home.
The Ada County Sheriff's Office said the men appeared to get into the home through a pet door.
The Kellys broke into a second home that same morning on Beacon Light and Linder roads by breaking down a side door into the garage, according to police. They stole guns, jewelry, cash, and other items from the home.
Matthew Kelly is due back in court on July 23 for a preliminary hearing.
