UPDATE: Crash July 6 near Hermiston leads to arrest for vehicle theft

Published 12:16 pm Monday, July 7, 2025

HERMISTON — The crash that occurred Sunday, July 6, near Hermiston resulted in an ambulance ride for the driver and two children and the arrest of the passenger .

Anthony Marsh Asumendi Jr., 27, of Hermiston, now faces several felony charges, including for vehicle theft.

According to Oregon State Police, a trooper July 6 at 4:21 p.m. responded to a single-vehicle rollover on Highway 207 at about milepost 3 near Hermiston. According to OSP, the front passenger was fighting with the driver, who attempted to take her cellphone.

Due to the struggle, the driver lost control of a Chrysler sedan, state police reported, which left the highway and rolled numerous times.

Oregon State Police said the vehicle hit a mailbox and a highway milepost. Then the vehicle reentered the highway and rolled across both lanes. The Chrysler came to a stop on its top, OSP reported.

The driver, Samantha Kay Allphin, 30, of Hermiston, suffered injuries, police reported. An ambulance took Allphin and two minor passengers — a boy, 4, and a girl, 5 — to Good Shepherd Medical Center in Hermiston.

Oregon State Police arrested the passenger, Asumendi, for reckless endangering, second-degree criminal mischief and felony domestic violence.

The Hermiston Police Department also arrested Asumendi.

Hermiston Police Lt. Chris Martin said HPD arrested Asumendi for the theft of a motorcycle and a trailer from Oxford Suites in Hermiston.

Martin said the department is limited in what information it can provide because it is an ongoing investigation. But he said surveillance video helped the department determine a suspect.

According to court documents, the Umatilla County District Attorney’s Office has brought preliminary charges against Asumendi of felony domestic violence and three counts of reckless endangerment related to the crash. In the HPD case, the district attorney has charged him with vehicle theft, felony theft felony possession of a stolen vehicle, according to court documents.

As of late afternoon July 7, Asumendi was in custody at the Umatilla County Jail, according to the jail roster.

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