Idaho man sentenced to prison for shooting a stranger in the back after an argument

A man who shot an unarmed stranger in the back after an argument at a Boise bar has been sentenced to serve at least five years, and as many as 25, in prison.

Bryson Grove, 22, of Idaho City, pleaded guilty in April to aggravated battery with an enhancement for use of a deadly weapon.

A year ago, Grove and Chase Fowler, the man he shot, were at Broadway Bar at 1712 S. Broadway Ave. in southeast Boise, said Matt Haynes, an Ada County deputy prosecutor, during Grove’s sentencing hearing in June. Fowler called out Grove for falsely bragging to a woman at the bar about having been to prison, said Haynes and Katelyn Enterkine, Grove’s attorney.

“I think it can be described as an insignificant encounter between the two,” Haynes said.

Grove’s response was “wildly disproportionate,” Enterkine said during the hearing. He left the bar and waited for Fowler to leave. When Fowler left, he began driving home with a woman. The two stopped at a convenience store, and Grove parked in the lot of a nearby business, Haynes said. The woman went into the store while Fowler walked over to Grove’s car and confronted him about being followed, Haynes said.

Fowler turned away after the confrontation, and Grove shot him in the legs and back, Fowler said in a victim statement during the sentencing. One of the rounds traveled within millimeters of hitting Fowler’s aorta – a large artery that starts in the heart – which would have killed him, Haynes said.

Fowler was rushed to a local hospital, according to previous Statesman reporting. Haynes said Fowler received surgery, didn’t have feeling in his legs afterward, and didn’t know if he’d walk again. He’s still in physical therapy.

“I’m healthy, I’m lucky I’m alive, I’m lucky I was able to walk into this courtroom,” Fowler said.

Haynes said he wasn’t sure whether Fowler would ever fully recover, and noted that he walked into the courtroom for the hearing using a crutch. Fowler is a tattoo artist, Haynes said, and his injuries took him off his feet for months.

“This has altered Chase’s life completely,” he said.

School records shed light on the factors influencing Grove’s behavior, Enterkine said. She said Grove was picked on from elementary school forward, and cited an incident where Grove stole beer in elementary school and was supposed to get a behavioral evaluation, but switched schools instead. Grove dropped out of high school to care for his son when he was born, Enterkine said.

“What I see is a kid that bounced from school to school. I see repeated calls to a parent who seems to not be responsive,” she said. “I see a lack of early intervention. I see someone who was passed around a lot.”

When Fowler confronted him in the parking lot, Grove had not developed coping skills and pulled the trigger, she said. Grove turned himself in after the incident and brought the gun he used to shoot Fowler with him, Enterkine said.

In his statement, Fowler said he didn’t think the judge should hand down an excessive sentence, but that he wanted Grove to learn from his mistakes. Haynes asked the judge to require $50,000 in restitution from Grove and to set a prison sentence of 15 years fixed and 15 indeterminate, meaning he could be in prison or on parole for the second half of the sentence.

The shooting was premeditated, Haynes said, and Grove’s record of disciplinary actions for violence in school suggests a higher risk of repeating crime. The first half of the sentence in prison would ensure that Grove couldn’t hurt anyone, and the next half would support supervision of Grove to make sure he’s in compliance with the law, he said.

Enterkine said Grove needs to change his thinking, reactions and behavior. “But at the same time we need to give him the opportunity to do so,” she said, asking the judge to place Grove under a retained jurisdiction sentence of five years fixed and 10 years indeterminate. That means Grove could go before the judge after completing a prison rehabilitation program in the Idaho Department of Correction. The judge would then decide to sentence him to probation or prison for the initial five years of the sentence.

Enterkine asked the judge to delay a decision on restitution because she hadn’t had the time to review it with Grove.

Ada County District Court Judge James Cawthon sentenced Grove to five years fixed and 20 years indeterminate. He said he saw an individual who had a “dysfunctional upbringing” and who has mental health problems that must be addressed. But placing Grove on probation after the completion of a rehabilitation program would diminish the serious nature of the offense, he said.

“To have fired a weapon at an individual in that particular setting, I can think of nothing more dangerous,” Cawthon said.

He agreed to delay a ruling on restitution.