Ellensburg Man Gets 364 Days For Spitting On Police Sgt.

An Ellensburg man has been sentenced to almost a year in jail for assaulting a police officer during his arrest two months ago.

Judge L. Candace Hooper handed down the 364-day term to 33-year-old Steven Michael Schepler in Kittitas County Superior Court this week.

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The Ellensburg Daily Record says Schepler's sentence was the result of a plea bargain he made with prosecutors, who agreed to drop charges of obstructing and resisting arrest in exchange for his guilty plea to third-degree assault, a Class C felony with a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

Schepler was captured on video surveillance spitting on an Ellensburg Police sergeant who assisted with his arrest in September.

He has a lengthy criminal history which also includes witness tampering and reckless burning, as well as five other assaults.

Defense attorney Paul McBride argued that Schepler's actions were taken out of desperation, since he was "terrified" of being placed at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla after allegedly being sexually assaulted there.