Huntington Man Awaits State Hospital Transfer After Durkee Armed Robbery Charge

Justin Dean Bridwell, 37, of Huntington, has sat in the Baker County Jail since June 2025 waiting out a case that has wound through a missed court date, a Union County rearrest, and now a question about whether he is mentally fit to face the charges against him.

Bridwell is accused of taking two vehicles from a resident near Durkee on Feb. 23, 2025, while accompanied by another man who brandished a gun and threatened to kill the resident. A Baker County grand jury indicted him in late February 2025 on four felony counts and one misdemeanor: first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, coercion, unauthorized use of a vehicle, and third-degree theft. The most serious charge, first-degree robbery, carries a mandatory minimum prison sentence of seven years, six months on conviction.

The case took a detour before it could reach trial. Bridwell was released from the Baker County Jail on April 23, 2025, but failed to attend a court hearing on June 4. Shirtcliff signed an arrest warrant following that absence. Bridwell was picked up in Union County and transferred back to Baker County Jail on June 11, 2025, where he has remained since, held on bail of $125,000. He could be released by posting 10% of that amount.

The case then took another turn in early 2026. On Feb. 3, Bridwell's attorney, Damien Yervasi of Baker City, filed a notice stating that he "has concerns about whether (Bridwell) is presently unfit to proceed in this matter by reason of incapacity." As of March 9, Bridwell remained in the Baker County Jail awaiting transfer to the Oregon State Hospital in Salem for mental health treatment intended to make him able to assist in his defense.

The alleged accomplice who brandished the gun during the Durkee incident has not been arrested. Michael Spaulding, chief deputy district attorney for Baker County, said there isn't enough corroboration now to arrest the man suspected to be Bridwell's accomplice.

Bridwell's mother told investigators her son had not left her with any paperwork involving a car purchase, but that he had told her either the day before or two days before the incident that he was working for somebody who would be giving him a car. Whether that account factors into the prosecution's theory of the case has not been detailed in court records made available so far.

The transfer to the Oregon State Hospital has no confirmed timeline beyond the pending status noted on March 9. Until that evaluation is complete and a competency determination is made, the case against Bridwell cannot move forward.