REXBURG — A two-time convicted felon will spend the next four months finishing substance abuse treatment following which she will return to Rexburg to serve 54 days at the Madison County Jail. Following her release, she will go on five years of felony probation.

Brooke Lee Toomer and her court-appointed attorney Joshua Garner met with Seventh District Judge Steven Boyce on Monday at the Madison County Courthouse. Toomer pled guilty to the felony of unlawful possession of firearm by convicted felon in exchange for the state dropping assault-aggravated with deadly weapon or instrument and arrests and seizure resisting or obstructing officers charges.

The victim involved in the incident wasn’t happy with Toomer’s sentence. He complained she caused him an enormous amount of trauma after pointing a gun at him while he tried delivering legal eviction papers to her.

“I want to be clear, I respect the court and process, but I do not respect what’s been reflected as justice in this case,” he said.

According to court records, the victim tried delivering legal papers to Toomer on Feb. 25. Instead, the victim reported Toomer pointed a firearm at him from her front window.

“In a meth fueled rage, Miss Toomer grabbed a rifle and attempted to murder me,” he said. “If not for the courageous brave man who intervened and disarmed Miss Toomer, she would have been successful in taking my life.”

The victim reported living in a constant state of fear, having difficulty sleeping and suffering from various illnesses.

“Miss Toomer left scars that will last the rest of my life,” he said. “I’m not the only victim, but she caused an entire neighborhood to go into lockdown. Meanwhile, half a dozen law enforcement officers risked their lives to arrest Miss Toomer.”

That day, Rexburg Police posted on their Facebook page responding to the altercation at the Summerfield Subdivision for an “armed, erratic person making threats with a rifle.”

Officers attempted to contact Toomer by phone, knocked on her door, but when no one responded they “breached” the doors. With firearms near Toomer and her ongoing refusal to peacefully give up, officers took her into custody. She later spent six days inside the Madison County Jail.

Madison County Deputy Prosecutor Adam Garvin stated the victim reported being threatened, and that Toomer’s son admitted his mom had a gun in her hand at one point.

“For the charge to remain, we had to prove she pointed it at (the victim) and apparently had the ability to do so,” Garvin said.

Garvin pointed out video recordings showed “evidentiary inconsistencies.”

“(That makes) it difficult, if not impossible, to go forward to charge Miss Toomer with threatening the victim with a rifle,” Garvin said.

Based on that information, the state opted instead for a plea agreement where Toomer took responsibility for some of her actions and to pled guilty to one of the felony charges, he said.

Garvin expressed concern at Toomer not accepting responsibility for her crime. He noted during her presentence investigation that she claimed not to have picked up a firearm and denied threatening the victim, he said.

“At the scene, however, there were numerous rifles — not just one, not just two — but numerous rifles leaned up against the wall a relatively short distance away from that front window,” Garvin said.

Garvin noted that Toomer has a history of violence, drug use, and theft resulting in her first felony conviction. As a convicted felon, Toomer was prohibited from holding guns.

“Her admitted problems of substance abuse may have led to events that day,” he said. “The state doesn’t have any tests — regardless, there is a continued issue with substance abuse. Mix substance abuse with firearms, and you put a community in a very dangerous situation.”

Garvin suggested Toomer serve up to three years in prison but called for the sentence to be suspended in favor of probation and some county jail time. He also presented a 10-minute video made from the victim’s cellphone showing both the victim and defendant’s actions following the alleged threat with a rifle.

In the video, the victim is heard arguing with Toomer’s son. Garner pointed out that not once did the victim say he would call police for Toomer threatening to kill him.

“He said, ‘I’m going to call law enforcement because you’re high on meth,’” Garner said. “(He said) ‘Open the door and take these papers, and I won’t call law enforcement.’ He keeps knocking on the window and door. In hindsight, if my client had simply opened the door and taken those papers, it would have ended.”

The victim didn’t walk away when it was obvious it wouldn’t be a “successful service” but instead called law enforcement “who knocked the door down,” he said.

Garner said that to claim Toomer caused all the problems that day was a little bit of imagination, and that she has not been a Bonnie and Clyde character running through the Upper Valley during the past 20 years.

“That is a false characterization and simply not true. The record doesn’t reflect that,” he said.

Garner suggested that Toomer be allowed to finish her drug treatment program.

Toomer apologized for her actions.

“I take full responsibility for the choices that brought me before the court,” she said. “I understand what I did was wrong and that the harm my behavior has caused not only to others but to myself and people who care about me.”

Boyce then sentenced Toomer and noted the victim’s displeasure in the outcome.

“An assault case may not have been an amenable charge in a jury trial,” he said. “Prosecutors have their discretion in making those determinations.”

Rehab is important in helping Toomer overcome her addictions. Boyce noted jails are full of people waiting to be taken to state prison rehab services. He also pointed out that those serving civil paperwork have an important job to do, but that those receiving the paperwork are not legally obligated to accept it.

“People avoid it all the time,” he said. “It’s not against the law to avoid service. It was pretty clear why (the victim) was there, and it’s pretty clear Mrs. Toomer wasn’t willing to accept service.”

Boyce didn’t like how the victim tried serving the paperwork and agreed he should have tried back another time.

“A normal person would call the police to say, ‘This guy won’t leave and is banging on the window scaring us,’” he said. “(Toomer) hesitated to do that because she was in possession of contraband and the firearm which led to an escalation really creating a dangerous situation for the family, the community and multiple law enforcement officers.”

Boyce then imposed county jail time “to send a message of deterrence.”

“I’ll permit you to complete the inpatient treatment now,” he said. “The court will permit you to report for additional jail time no later than February 26.”