BOISE, Idaho — This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press.
Boise police have made an arrest in connection to the 2023 death of a local high school coach.
Meridian man Shawn Stacy, 28, has been charged with vehicular manslaughter for the February 2023 crash that killed Loma Bittick, who was a coach and math teacher at Greenleaf Friends Academy. Stacy was also given a persistent violator enhancement.
The crash occurred on Feb. 9, 2023, when Bittick and her husband, Jim Bittick, were on their way to pick up the school's varsity girls basketball team to take them to their district tournament game. Jim Bittick was the team's head coach and Loma Bittick was an assistant and also the head coach of the school's varsity volleyball team.
Police at the time said the crash in Greenleaf happened when a 2009 Volkswagen Jetta traveling westbound on Lower Pleasant Ridge Road, driven by Stacy, failed to yield at a stop sign and hit a 2014 Ford F150 pickup traveling north on Friends Road and driven by Jim Bittick, with Loma Bittick as a passenger. Both Bitticks were ejected from the vehicle and Loma Bittick died after being taken to the hospital. She was 65.
Jim Bittick was also injured and hospitalized during the crash, police said. Neither of the Bitticks, nor Stacy, were wearing a seat belt, police said.
An Idaho State Police incident report obtained via a records request said Stacy suffered severe body trauma and bruising in the crash.
Stacy has a history of driving violations, court records show. His license has been suspended twice, in 2015 and 2016. He’s been found guilty dozens of times for offenses including stop sign violations, speeding, following too closely, driving without privileges, not providing proof of insurance, and not wearing a seat belt.
Most recently, in early January, Stacy was charged with and found guilty of following too closely.
The manslaughter charge against Stacy was filed by the Canyon County Prosecutor's office on Jan. 18. On Monday, his warrant was served and he was arrested and booked into the Ada County Jail on a $100,000 bond.
This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press, read more on IdahoPress.com.
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