What started as an alleged grocery store theft in West Salem has ended with a years-long prison stretch for a Redmond man who used a blowgun on his way out the door.
On Wednesday, 33-year-old Christopher Denver Castator was sentenced to nearly six years in prison after prosecutors say he shot a Roth’s Fresh Market employee with an arrow fired from a blowgun during a May 2025 theft at the West Salem store. Castator admitted his role in the robbery and the injury, and the court imposed a mandatory term that leaves him ineligible for early release.
According to a press release from the Polk County District Attorney’s Office, Castator was sentenced on Feb. 4, 2026, by Polk County Circuit Judge Rafael A. Caso to 70 months in prison for Robbery in the Second Degree and Unlawful Use of a Weapon, followed by 36 months of post-prison supervision. Prosecutors say the sentence was issued under Oregon’s Measure 11 rules, which sharply restrict sentence reductions and temporary leave for qualifying offenses…