A Chiloquin man who attacked a Central Point man with a skateboard in 2022, strangling him until he lost consciousness and taking the victim’s phone and laptop to prevent him from calling for help, pleaded guilty Wednesday and was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison, with credit for time served, plus five years of supervised release. 

Chad Michael Heppner, 47, appeared in court via video to make his plea on first-degree assault. Prosecutors dismissed charges of attempted murder, first-degree robbery, second-degree robbery, second-degree assault, fourth-degree assault and strangulation.

Heppner answered “No, ma’am” to Circuit Court Judge Laura Cromwell, who asked if he had anything to say regarding the assault of Arthur Ray Harrie, who helped Heppner’s girlfriend tow her car after the convicted felon slashed the vehicle’s tires earlier in the day of Oct. 18, 2022. 

That night, Heppner arrived intoxicated at a trailer Harrie owned in the 200 block of Applewood Drive. Heppner told Harrie he was mad at him for helping his girlfriend with her car. That’s when Heppner struck Harrie in the head with the skateboard. Heppner also strangled Harrie, who lost consciousness only to wake up and find critical belongings gone.

Harrie was not in court for Wednesday’s sentencing of Heppner, who also pleaded guilty to a count of second-degree criminal mischief, a misdemeanor, an unrelated crime committed by damaging another man’s car the day after the Harrie assault.

Prior to Cromwell imposing a sentence for the assault charge, Heppner’s defense attorney Rachel Pavlich spoke on behalf of her client, saying Heppner was exposed to alcohol and drugs at a young age. Heppner became sober more than two decades ago, Pavlich said, but struggled with substances after going through a divorce. While Heppner was in custody on other charges six years ago, his son committed suicide. Since then, Heppner has struggled with sobriety and has had trouble keeping counselors, Pavlich stated. 

“He ended up going to hang out with old friends and relapsed again,” Pavlich said. “That seems to be his cycle … his frustrations lead to relapse, which leads to this type of assault.”

Heppner has a lengthy criminal history going back to 1993. His felony convictions include violating a stalking protective order of a family member in 2011; burglary and unauthorized use of a vehicle in 2014; burglary and unlawful use of a weapon in 2017; unlawful possession of methamphetamine and assault in 2020.

Cromwell also ordered Heppner to pay $1,626.64 in restitution to the victims. 

“Sir, I really do hope that you think about some of this stuff. You’re 47 years old; it’s time to phase out of this behavior,” Cromwell said. “But you’re going to have everyday frustrations. … If you just become frustrated, then this is going to be the rest of your life. So it’s a matter of working on your sobriety and working on tools to get around that (frustration).”