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Man accused of targeting Boise LGBTQ community indicted on federal hate crime charge

Husbands John Michael Schert and Brett Perry have replaced their Pride progress flag after someone burned it at their Boise home. The colors on the flag represent the diversity of the LGBT community including gender identity and communities of color. (Sarah A. Miller/Idaho Statesman)
By Mia Maldonado Idaho Statesman

Matthew Lehigh, the Boise man arrested last year for allegedly driving his car at two women and targeting LGBTQ victims, has been indicted on a federal hate crime charge.

A federal grand jury in Boise returned the indictment Tuesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho said in a news release Thursday evening. If convicted, Lehigh could face up to 10 years in prison.

The charges trace to Oct. 13, when Lehigh, 31, was arrested after allegedly threatening two women, yelling a homophobic slur and intentionally trying to hit them with his vehicle.

Boise police said they later tied him to other incidents involving the LGBTQ community, including the burning of a Pride flag, and he is charged with three felony counts of aggravated assault, one felony count of arson and misdemeanor malicious injury to property in Ada County.

Local authorities cannot pursue Lehigh’s actions as a hate crime, the Statesman has previously reported, because Idaho’s malicious harassment statute does not protect people based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Federal law does.

“This assault, the indictment alleges, was motivated by the actual and perceived sexual orientation of the victims,” the news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated. It also said Lehigh “attempted to cause bodily injury.”

Boise Police Department officers responded to a report of an attempted hit-and-run in the 1000 block of N. Americana Boulevard in October. Two women told police they were standing next to their vehicle when Lehigh drove his car at them. They dodged the vehicle, but his car hit theirs and he fled the scene, according to police.

Police had been searching for a suspect after receiving reports of a similar incident at a downtown business, they said. Lehigh allegedly hit a victim, used a homophobic slur and drove his vehicle toward an employee.

Detectives from the Violent Crime Unit said they found and arrested Lehigh in a parking lot near the 8200 block of W. Fairview Avenue on Oct. 13. He was booked into the Ada County Jail.

A judge later found Lehigh unfit to have his case proceed in court, meaning the defendant would undergo mental health treatment to have his competency restored before a trial could take place.