Third Island City car chase suspect enters guilty and no contest pleas
Published 7:00 pm Tuesday, October 25, 2022
LA GRANDE — The final suspect arrested in connection to a burglary and car chase out of Island City in July pleaded guilty to felony fleeing and entered a no contest plea on the charge of first-degree attempted burglary on Monday, Oct. 24, in Union County Circuit Court.
Ashtin Romine was arrested July 17 on charges of reckless endangering and misdemeanor and felony fleeing. He was indicted by a Union County grand jury, who updated his charges to first-degree attempted burglary, reckless driving and misdemeanor and felony fleeing. Romine is represented by court-appointed counsel Kathleen Dunn, of Canyon City.
Demus Montez, Jessica Spalinger and Romine were all arrested after an attempted burglary at Muzzleloader’s and More in Island City and a subsequent car chase. According to law enforcement, the trio fled from the parking lot in a car driven by Spalinger, injuring the business owner’s daughter, Randi Shafer. They were pursued in a high-speed chase where shots were fired at Oregon State Police. The chase ended in Elgin with all three suspects fleeing on foot into the underbrush near Indian Creek.
In August, Montez pleaded not guilty on all charges against him. He has been charged with attempted murder, first-degree attempted robbery, unlawful use of a weapon, possession of a firearm as a felon, criminal mischief, reckless endangering and misdemeanor fleeing.
La Grande attorney J. Logan Joseph withdrew as Montez’s court-appointed counsel. He is now represented by La Grande lawyer Jared Boyd. Montez has a pretrial conference scheduled in February for a jury trial arranged to start the following month.
In September, Spalinger accepted a plea offer from the Union County District Attorney’s Office. She entered a guilty plea and was convicted on charges of recklessly endangering another person, reckless driving and failure to perform the duties of a driver to an injured person. Spalinger is represented by court-appointed counsel, La Grande attorney James Schaeffer.
Union County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Powers sentenced Spalinger to 100 days in jail. After her release, she will undergo 36 months of post-prison supervision and be required to complete 80 hours of community service.
The plea deal also included a special condition. Spalinger agreed to cooperate with law enforcement in the prosecution of co-defendants.
Romine is set to appear back in court on Nov. 7 for sentencing.