Judge issues arrest warrant for Island City car chase defendant

Isabella Crowley, The Observer, La Grande, Ore.
·3 min read

Oct. 29—LA GRANDE — Union County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Powers issued an arrest warrant on Monday, Oct. 24, due to a probation violation, for a defendant who accepted a plea offer in connection to a July burglary and car chase out of Island City.

Union County District Attorney Kelsie McDaniel requested Powers issue an arrest warrant for Jessica Spalinger after she failed to uphold requirements of her probation. Spalinger will be required to appear in court to explain why her probation should not be revoked.

Spalinger was arrested on July 17. In September she accepted a plea offer in which she pled guilty to 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. The final charge is a felony level offense.

Powers sentenced Spalinger to 100 days in county jail with credit for time served. After her release, Spalinger is required to undergo 36 months of post-prison supervision with a drug and alcohol package. She will also be required to complete 80 hours of community service, and her driver's license will be suspended.

Spalinger met with her probation officer Kim Robinson at Umatilla County Community Corrections, Pendleton, at the end of September, according to a notice of violation report. Spalinger was told she needed to contact Community Counseling Solutions and schedule a drug and alcohol assessment. She was also expected to report to the Milton-Freewater office in early October.

Clinicians at Community Counseling Solutions told Robinson that Spalinger never scheduled her assessment, according to a notice of violation report. She also failed to report to the Milton-Freewater office as requested on Oct. 3 and has not attempted to contact her probation officer.

In her evaluation, Robinson noted that while this was Spalinger's first arrest in Oregon, she had been previously arrested and sentenced to 24 months probation in Washington. She also has an active warrant for her arrest from College Place, Washington.

"Although Ms. Spalinger is fairly new to supervision, she has clearly shown an unwillingness to engage in her requirements at the most basic level," Robinson wrote in the violation report.

The plea deal also included a special condition. Spalinger agreed to cooperate with law enforcement in the prosecution of the two co-defendants — Ashtin Romine and Demus Montez.

Spalinger, Montez and Romine were arrested after an attempted burglary at Muzzleloader's and More and subsequent car chase out of Island City. 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.

Spalinger is represented by court-appointed counsel, La Grande attorney James Schaeffer. She is scheduled to appear in court for a restitution hearing on Nov. 28.

Isabella Crowley is a reporter for The Observer. Contact her at {span}541-624-6014 or{/span} icrowley@lagrandeobserver.com.