Driver in high-speed chase required to pay $7,500 for lost cookies, other damages

A woman who took police on a high-speed chase last summer through the Canyon received a six-year deferred sentence last week and was required to pay about $7,500 in restitution. 

Raychelle Yvette Afseth, 30, was charged with a felony of criminal endangerment for stealing a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee from a Kalispell parking lot and driving it for more than 40 miles and at speeds over 100 mph. 

The Flathead County District Court gave Afseth credit for previously spending 170 days in jail and on house arrest. The sentence includes supervision by probation and parole and following specified conditions. She is required to pay restitution of $7,566, which is half of what was originally requested from the prosecutor. 

The owners of the Jeep, who were unable to be at the court sentencing, put together a detailed list of items that were in the vehicle when it was stolen, according to prosecuting attorney Andrew Clegg. The victims used the vehicle to deliver cookies for their business. They never recovered any of the items, which included cookies worth $2,484, a computer, printer and cables. The items were initially left on the property where the vehicle crashed on U.S. Highway 2 near Nyack, said the defendant’s attorney Jessica Polan.

“They lost everything they had and they actually had to spend quite some time getting the business going again, and it almost cost them the business,” Clegg said. He requested a total of $16,299 in restitution.

However, Polan noted that the victims’ insurance company paid them $5,700 for the value of the Jeep and $250 for the computer equipment. Flathead County District Judge Heidi Ulbricht amended the restitution subtracting the insurance amount.

There was some argument over the victim’s claim of loss of income of $600. Polan cited a state supreme court case from 2013 that found a victim couldn’t request loss of income while attending criminal proceedings.

However, Clegg noted the supreme court wasn’t able to find a causal connection between the lost income and the crime in that case. Whereas the victims in this case lost income because their cookies were in the vehicle that was involved in the crime, he said. Polan decided to withdraw her argument.

The pre-sentence investigation found that Afseth’s ability to pay is questionable. Polan claimed that because of her mental health and learning difficulties and not having a driver’s license, paying the full restitution would put her in “quite a conundrum.” Polan requested that the public defender and supervision fees be waived so that Afseth would be able to pay for the restitution through a minimum wage job. Polan gave Afseth a squeeze on her shoulder, and received a smile from the defendant. Afseth declined to say anything during the sentencing.

Ulbricht waived some of the fees and a $1,000 fine but retained the supervision fee that is determined by the probation officer. The charge had a maximum sentence of 10 years in the state prison and a $50,000 fine plus restitution.

Afseth is currently in the county jail.