PENDLETON — A Umatilla County woman faces charges of felony computer crime, forgery and theft after she was indicted by a grand jury.

Spring Hartinger, 48, of Stanfield, was indicted Wednesday, Dec. 16, on 43 counts of felony computer crime, five counts of second-degree forgery and four counts of second-degree theft. She was arrested by Hermiston police for allegedly stealing money from the restaurant where she worked by altering and adding money to receipts.

The four counts of theft all took place at Nookie’s Restaurant and Brewery in Hermiston, according to court records.

According to court documents from Monday, Dec. 21, the state intends to introduce more evidence to the case, which could enhance the severity of Hartinger’s sentence. The state said the crime was allegedly committed while Hartinger was on “probation or release in another criminal case.”

Upon her arrest, Hartinger was accused of fraudulently obtaining more than $600 from the eatery, but investigations into activity dating back to 2017 are ongoing, according to Jason Edmiston, the chief of the Hermiston Police Department.

Mitch Myers, who owns Nookie’s Restaurant & Brewery and is a witness in the case, confirmed that Hartinger was an employee of Nookie’s at the time of the alleged theft for which she was recently charged. He said after a discrepancy came to his attention, the restaurant had a full audit of every transaction by all of his employees that had taken place over nearly two years.

Myers said he immediately alerted Hermiston police, cooperated with the investigation and is working with credit card companies to refund money to any customers who were overcharged and may have been a victim of the actions for which Hartinger has been indicted.

“Nookie’s is who discovered it. Nookie’s is the one that contacted police. Nookie’s is working hard to make it right,” he said. “I don’t condone it. I’m infuriated by it.”

This is not the first time Hartinger has faced such charges.

In 2011, she was convicted on one count of first-degree theft, after one count of the fraudulent use of a credit card, 11 counts of identity theft and six counts of first-degree theft against Hartinger were dismissed. She was fined just under $1,400, according to Roy Blaine, trial court administrator for Umatilla County.

Hartinger is scheduled for a pretrial conference on Jan. 25.