Post Falls teen arrested, charged with conspiracy to commit murder

COEUR d'ALENE — A Post Falls teen was arrested Wednesday on several charges that included conspiracy to commit murder, according to a press release from the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office on Thursday.

Ashlan T. Hjelmstrom,17, was taken into custody and booked into Region 1 juvenile detention center without incident. He is being charged as an adult.

The press release said that after conducting multiple search warrants and canvassing multiple locations for surveillance video, KCSO deputies and detectives, along with members of the Coeur d’ Alene Police Community Action Team and U.S. Marshal’s Service, served an arrest warrant for Hjelmstrom.

The warrant, issued after a grand jury convened, was for assault with intent to commit murder, unlawful discharge of a firearm, concealment of evidence, conspiracy to commit murder and aggravated battery, the release said.

Devin C. Spring, 18, who was arrested during the initial investigation, was also indicted on assault with intent to commit murder, unlawful discharge of a firearm, concealment of evidence, conspiracy to commit murder and aggravated battery.

The case is connected to a April 5 incident when deputies responded to reports of shots fired in the area of Upriver Drive and U.S. 95 near Coeur d’Alene.

A caller said a male had exited a vehicle and fired multiple shots toward them, the release said. 

A male victim was located several miles away with a non-life-threatening injury sustained from one of the shots, the release said.

With the assistance of the Coeur d’Alene Police Department’s Community Action Team, the suspect was located a short time later and taken into custody. Spring was booked into the Kootenai County jail on two counts of aggravated assault, according to a press release.