Man pointed gun at camper near Swan Falls Dam, drew SWAT team. He was just sentenced
A man who pointed his gun at a camper near the Swan Falls Dam last summer was sentenced to five years on probation.
Mark Allen, 67, of Garden City, pleaded guilty to a charge of felony aggravated assault in a May plea deal. Prosecutors pushed for jail time, but 4th District Judge Jonathan Medema on Tuesday suspended Allen’s sentence and put him on probation.
“You were just drunk and you did something dumb,” Medema told Allen.
In August 2022, Allen went fishing near the Swan Falls Dam south of Kuna. He was supposed to go with his son and grandson, defense attorney Nicholas Wollen said, but he and his son had a fight before the trip, and Allen decided to go alone.
Despite being sober for 31 years, he took along a bottle of whiskey and a loaded gun, Ada County Deputy Prosecutor Cory Nielsen said. While at the dam, he encountered Dylan Bigelow, who was camping, according to previous Idaho Statesman reporting. They started talking. At some point, Bigelow left, but he returned to check on Allen and Allen reacted by pointing his gun at Bigelow, who was so scared he jumped into the Snake River to escape, Nielsen said.
Bigelow called 911, according to previous Statesman reporting, and Ada County sheriff’s deputies responded around 10:30 p.m. When those deputies arrived, they heard gunshots and called the SWAT unit, according to the sheriff’s office. Deputies caught him around 2 a.m. after searching for him with a drone and arrested him.
Allen has said he was shooting at beer cans and what he believed to be UFOs, Nielsen told the courtroom.
“It’s really only by good fortune that no one in this incident was killed or injured,” Nielsen said.
The prosecutor asked the judge for a five-year suspended sentence because Allen is 67, has not had a criminal case since 1990, has no prior felony conviction and appears amenable to treatment. But Nielsen also requested that Medema give Allen 180 days in jail.
“This has brought Mark some of the greatest shame of his life,” Wollen said, adding that Allen has remained sober since he was released from jail, and that “there is no excuse for being drunk and waving a gun around.” He asked Medema not to give his client more time in jail.
Allen said he was sorry for his actions. “I would just like to apologize to Dylan for scaring him,” he said.
Medema said Allen’s crime was serious and unjustified. After hearing argument from the attorneys, he ordered him to serve five years on probation and pay $20 in restitution to replace Bigelow’s sandals that he lost during the incident.
“Stay away from alcohol,” Medema told Allen. He said he’s not sure what happened that day but thinks Allen would agree that drinking was a bad idea and not something he wants to do again.
“Nope,” Allen said. He smiled for the first time in the hearing and thanked the judge.
