A man who crashed his car last year and then traded gunshots with a Cache County rescue worker was sentenced Monday to prison.
Cade M. Austin — who was injured in the Dec. 15 shootout with Smithfield Assistant Fire Chief Jeremy Hunt — was charged with two counts of attempted murder, a first-degree felony, and a slew of misdemeanor counts.
In May, Austin pleaded guilty in 1st District Court to one count each of attempted murder and aggravated assault, both second-degree felonies punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
In exchange for his pleas, the other counts were dismissed.
On Monday, Judge Kevin Allen sentenced the 31-year-old Preston, Idaho, man to concurrent prison terms, meaning Austin could serve a maximum of 15 years behind bars.
The judge also ordered Austin to pay restitution of $16,492.26.
Defense attorney Greg Skordas said Austin will get credit for the 303 days he has served since his arrest.
Hunt, who has a concealed-firearm license, testified in a February preliminary hearing that Austin — who had been traveling on U.S. Highway 91 about a mile south of the Idaho border — crashed into a natural-gas regulating device, which then spewed gas.
The first responders were EMTs from the Smithfield Fire Department, including Hunt, who testified that Austin appeared "agitated" and "fidgety" as Hunt began pleading with Austin to turn off his car.
"I said, 'Can you hear that loud hissing? That is raw natural gas that is going to explode if you do not shut that vehicle off,' " Hunt testified.
Hunt said Austin eventually turned off the engine. But as he continued talking to the man, Hunt testified, Austin became increasingly nervous, zipping his hooded sweatshirt up and down and moving his fidgeting hands closer to his waistband.
"Our main concern at this point," Hunt testified, "was to get him out of the vehicle and all of us away from that gas line."
When another officer told Austin that they should get him out of the car, Hunt testified that Austin quickly moved his hands to his waistband and pulled out a gun.
Hunt testified that he, in turn, pulled out his own gun, stuck it inside Austin's vehicle and fired. Austin allegedly fired his gun as well, though Hunt couldn't remember who shot first.
Hunt said he then backed up and continued to shoot through the back window of the car until he saw that the driver was "slumped over."
"I knew if that gun made it to the window, one of us was going to die, me or one of my partners," Hunt testified.
SWAT officers then removed Austin from the car and took him to a Logan hospital, where he was then flown to an Ogden hospital.
