Man gets between 5 and 15 years in prison for aggravated assault, eluding and drug possession

The following is a news release from the Bingham County Prosecutor’s Office.

BLACKFOOT — Following a two-day trial, a jury convicted Marcus Kurt Yupe on March 1, 2022, of two counts of aggravated assault on law enforcement personnel, eluding a police officer, and possession of fentanyl. Mr. Yupe was also convicted of being a persistent violator, a sentencing enhancement that carries a mandatory minimum prison term of five years and a maximum term of life.

The Honorable Darren B. Simpson sentenced Mr. Yupe on April 25, 2022. On the two counts of aggravated assault on law enforcement personnel, Mr. Yupe was sentenced to a prison term of at least five years and at most fifteen years, which will run concurrently to each other. On the fentanyl possession and eluding counts, Mr. Yupe was sentenced to a term of at least two years and at most twelve years, which will also run concurrently to each other and to the aggravated assault counts. The terms on all four counts will run consecutively to Mr. Yupe’s two-and-a-half-year prison sentence on a felony eluding conviction that was entered against him in 2020. That sentence was suspended in 2020 and he was placed on probation, but he will now begin to serve that term as a result of a probation violation he incurred when he committed these new offenses. Overall, Mr. Yupe will serve at least seven and a half years in prison but will receive credit for time he served in the Bingham County Jail while this case was pending.

Jury convicts man involved in high-speed chase

The charges arose from an incident on May 8, 2021, which began in the city of Blackfoot, Idaho. A Blackfoot police officer attempted to stop a pickup truck being driven by Mr. Yupe due to its fictitious and suspended license plates. Mr. Yupe fled the officer, reaching speeds of 70 miles per hour in a residential neighborhood where the posted speed limit was 25 miles per hour.

Ahead of the pursuit, Corporal Lawrence Henrie and Deputy Brook Ferro of the Bingham County Sheriff’s Office deployed a “spike strip” device across Shilling Avenue just prior to a bridge spanning the Blackfoot River. Cpl. Henrie controlled the spike strip from a position on the opposite side of the road from Mr. Yupe and Dep. Ferro stood just off the roadway near a marked patrol vehicle. Mr. Yupe drove directly towards Cpl. Henrie and Dep. Ferro, prompting Cpl. Henrie to open fire on the truck. Cpl. Henrie’s shots struck the driver’s side of the pickup truck, but Mr. Yupe continued driving. Both deputies narrowly avoided being hit by the truck; it passed within two feet of Cpl. Henrie and within approximately ten feet of Dep. Ferro.

Man arrested on multiple charges after high-speed chase

The pursuit continued for approximately eleven minutes. Blackfoot officers and Bingham County deputies apprehended Mr. Yupe once his truck became inoperative due to driving on tires that had been punctured by Cpl. Henrie’s spike strip. After Mr. Yupe was taken into custody, a Blackfoot officer located pills on his person which were later determined to contain fentanyl. Mr. Yupe had not been prescribed the pills.

The Bingham County Prosecutor’s Office charged Mr. Yupe with aggravated assault on Cpl. Henrie, aggravated assault on Dep. Ferro, a felony count of eluding, a felony count of unlawful possession of a controlled substance, driving under the influence, resisting and obstructing, and the persistent violator sentencing enhancement. The DUI and resisting and obstructing charges were dropped by the Prosecutor’s Office prior to trial. The case was tried by Janet Franklin, a deputy prosecuting attorney for Bingham County.