Pocatello settles lawsuit for $1.6M with man paralyzed in 2020 police shooting

POCATELLO — The insurance provider for the city recently paid $1.6 million to settle a lawsuit that a former local resident filed after he was left paralyzed when police shot him five times during a 2020 incident near the Red Lion Hotel.

Pocatello’s insurance provider, Idaho Counties Risk Management Program, or ICRMP, on Sept. 19 paid $1.6 million to the Utah-based law firm Christensen & Jensen to settle a lawsuit that was filed on behalf of former Pocatello resident Jake Lee Sheeler, 32, in federal court in July 2022, officials with ICRMP told the Idaho State Journal via email this week.

“The settlement amount was determined as a result of negotiations that took place in meditation after consultation with ICRMP and the attorneys handling the case on behalf of the city of Pocatello,” city spokesperson Marlise Irby-Facer told the Journal via email this week.

The settlement comes after Sheeler sued the city of Pocatello as well as Pocatello Police Chief Roger Schei and Pocatello police officers Bridget McArthur, Jeffrey Eldridge and Marisa Saldana, alleging their excessive force violated his constitutional rights when they shot him five times, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down.

The lawsuit, which has since been dismissed permanently following the settlement agreement, claimed, among other allegations, that the several officers on scene shouted conflicting commands at Sheeler with their guns drawn when they confronted him in a field near the Red Lion Hotel on Sept. 25, 2020, following an intense manhunt.

The Sept. 25, 2020, incident involving Sheeler began to unfold around 4:15 p.m. after he broke into a home on the 200 block of Hyde Avenue in Pocatello and stole a Taurus Judge .410-caliber revolver loaded with 2 1/3-inch birdshot shotgun shells and threatened to shoot the homeowner with the gun he had just stolen, according to police records the Journal obtained in 2020.

Police said that after they responded to the burglary they determined that Sheeler posed a threat to the public so they closed off all of the neighborhood's streets to traffic and aggressively patrolled the area in search of him.

The manhunt, which involved Pocatello Police Department officers and Idaho State Police troopers, ended around 8:25 p.m. on Sept. 25, 2020, when police found Sheeler in the field near the Red Lion Hotel and Outback Golf Park, his lawsuit stated.

An Idaho State Police trooper as well as officers Eldridge, McArthur and Saldana approached Sheeler from different angles and began shouting conflicting commands at him that included, “Do not move,” “Show me your hands,” “Get on the ground,” and to back up, his lawsuit stated.

The suit alleges that police were told by several witnesses who interacted with Sheeler during the manhunt that he was unarmed.

As the officers were shouting at Sheeler near the Red Lion Hotel he turned around so that his back was toward the officers and he began walking backwards toward them, the suit says, adding that “(Sheeler’s) turn was not sudden or threatening” and was in compliance with the shouted command to back up. 

“Walking backward, (Sheeler) took approximately seven steps continuing in his eastward direction,” the lawsuit states. “These backward steps were Jake’s final steps.”

What happened next, the suit alleges, is that the officers fired 15 shots at Sheeler, with five bullets striking him.

Sheeler suffered life threatening injuries from the shooting and was rushed via ambulance to Portneuf Medical Center, the suit alleges.

Sheeler, according to PMC records mentioned in the suit, suffered a gunshot wound to his left side, two wounds to his back, one wound to his neck that entered through his left side and one wound to his left thigh.

The lawsuit alleges that according to the officers' body camera footage of the incident, Sheeler can be seen walking backward with his hands raised above his head when he was shot.

“(Sheeler) was not resisting the officers,” the suit said. “(He) was not fleeing the officers … was not committing a serious crime or posing a threat to anybody. (Sheeler) continued to be empty handed. At no time did (Sheeler) ever point at any of the officers with his empty hands or with any object. Though (Sheeler) was walking, he did not make any sudden, threatening, harrowing or aggressive movements.”

Following the shooting, Sheeler spent 45 days receiving treatment at PMC, 25 days at Western Peaks Medical Center in Bountiful, Utah, and over one year at the University of Utah Craig H. Neilsen Rehabilitation Hospital in Salt Lake City.

“Sheeler is permanently injured,” the suit stated. “(He) will never walk again, may never be well enough to work and will require assistive care for the duration of his lifetime.”

In addition to alleging that Eldridge, McArthur and Saldana violated Sheeler's 4th Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution to be free from the use of excessive deadly force, the suit alleged the city of Pocatello violated his 4th and 14th Amendment rights and that all defendants were negligent in planning his arrest, executing his arrest and in properly training, supervising and controlling Eldridge, McArthur and Saldana.

Further, the suit alleged that Eldridge, McArthur and Saldana fabricated justification for the shooting when they discussed the shooting of Sheeler with one another prior to the East Idaho Critical Incident Task Force investigation that ultimately cleared all officers involved of any wrongdoing. The Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office made the final determination to rule the officers' actions were justified after the Bannock County Prosecutor’s Office recused itself citing a conflict of interest.

When asked if any of the officers involved in the shooting would face any additional reprimands following the settlement, Irby-Facer said via email, “The Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney determined that the conduct of the officers was justified and the city of Pocatello wholeheartedly agrees with that decision.”

In terms of damages, the suit asked for at least about $1.3 million in past medical expenses, $7 million in lifetime lost wages and economic losses and $5 million for future medical expenses.

The Idaho State Journal reached out to Sheeler’s attorneys following the settlement agreement and did not receive a response.

When asked why the city settled the suit, Irby-Facer said via email that “The city evaluated this case like it does all cases and made decisions that were in the best interest of the city and the citizens of Pocatello.”

Additionally, the city said the fact that Eldridge, McArthur, Saldana and Schei were listed as defendants in their individual capacities had no impact on the decision to settle the suit.

When asked what impact, if any, this settlement will have on Pocatello taxpayers or if the city anticipates this settlement will affect its current rates with its insurance provider, ICRMP, Irby-Facer said, “The rates for insurance coverage have already been established for Fiscal Year 2025 and will not be adjusted based on this settlement.”

Aside from the financial amount, there were no other stipulations associated with the settlement agreement, the city said.

“As a result of the settlement the case was dismissed with prejudice,” Irby-Facer said via email. “There were no other stipulations associated with the settlement.”

Sheeler in March 2022 pleaded guilty to felony charges of aggravated assault, burglary and unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon as part of a plea agreement with Bannock County prosecutors that involved the dismissal of a felony enhancement and four other felony charges Sheeler faced — one count of burglary, one count of unlawful possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and two counts of grand theft.

Sixth District Judge Robert Naftz imposed an underlying prison sentence against Sheeler, sentencing him to serve five years in prison for both the aggravated assault and unlawful possession of a firearm charges as well as a unified 10 years for the burglary charge, with at least five of those years mandatory.

Naftz ordered the prison sentences to be served consecutively, or one after another, but ultimately suspended all prison time and placed Sheeler on probation for 12 years.

If Sheeler is found to violate his probation, however, he could serve 15 years in prison before being eligible for parole.

Sheeler now lives in Southern California.