Prosecutor won’t pursue charges in shooting death

The Bonneville County Prosecutor’s Office won’t pursue charges in the case of a wanted man who was shot to death in Ammon.

Philip Clay was wanted on an Ada County warrant for felony drug charges. On March 15, bondsmen and security personnel tried to arrest Clay on the 3500 block of Greenfield Drive. Law enforcement officials said Clay had a gun, and one of those hired by the bondsmen shot him.

In a news release Tuesday, the prosecutor’s office said the bond agents had tried unsuccessfully several times to take Clay into custody. Clay had indicated he had a gun and would not go down without a fight, and if police tried to arrest him he would get into a shootout because he was not going back to jail, the prosecutor said. He also knew the bondsmen were in town looking for him.

In the parking lot of the apartment complex, Clay, armed with a .380-caliber handgun, hid between cars to try to avoid being seen and arrested. The prosecutor’s office said the bondsmen tried to apprehend Clay without force, telling him numerous times to drop his weapon and that it was not worth it.

Christopher Schulthies of Vets Security “approached Mr. Clay, who was pointing his gun around in all directions and turned from pointing his gun at (Guy R. Braceli-Gambino of Northwest Surety Investigations) and pointed his weapon at (James O. Eggleston of Vets Security) on the other side of the parking lot, then Mr. Schulthies shot at Mr. Clay five times, striking him four times,” the prosecutor said.

There was no evidence of Clay shooting his gun.

In Idaho, a person who provided bail for a defendant may at anytime arrest him or her and use reasonable force if necessary.

“It was not unreasonable that Mr. Schulthies fired his weapon in self-defense or defense of others, killing Mr. Clay,” the prosecuting office wrote.