Quincy woman charged with extortion, vehicle theft
QUINCY — A Quincy woman was charged for allegedly stealing a 61-year-old man’s vehicle and threatening to have the man beat up if he didn’t admit to giving her permission to drive the car.
Grant County prosecutors charged Magdalena Alvarez Solano, 29, of Quincy, with first-degree extortion and motor vehicle theft.
On Dec. 17 the Grant County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a robbery that had occurred in the 14300 block of Road W in Quincy. The victim, a 61-year-old man, claimed he had been taken to a hospital in the Wenatchee area by a woman who was temporarily living with him for the past five days, according to police.
He said the woman, whom he only knew as “Magdalena,” was driving him to the hospital and told him, “I’m going to take you so they can kill you.” The man claimed he escaped from his vehicle, a Chevrolet Blazer, and had a family member in Wenatchee take him the rest of the way to his appointment. While in Wenatchee the victim reported the vehicle as stolen, along with his cellphone that was left in the car.
The victim said he returned to his Road W residence and Alvarez Solano confronted him with two males he did not recognize. Alvarez Solano reportedly told the man if he didn’t sign a piece of paper stating he gave her permission to drive the Blazer, she would have her two friends beat him up.
“In addition to forcing (the victim) to sign the paper giving permission to Magdalena to take his vehicle, Magdalena took $900 in cash and several documents and certificates, to include (the victim’s) U.S. passport and naturalization certificate,” wrote the investigating deputy.
Just after midnight on Dec. 18 Alvarez Solano was pulled over in Soap Lake city limits driving the victim’s Blazer. Alvarez Solano and her passenger, identified as Brian Power, 32, of Soap Lake, were detained at the scene and the victim gave police permission to search the Blazer. The victim’s passport, naturalization certificate, and other legal and financial documents were recovered from inside the vehicle.
“In searching the blue Chevrolet, I found a pack of Marlboro Red cigarettes in the passenger side door storage compartment that appeared mostly empty," wrote the deputy. "I checked the inside of the cigarette pack, and found three small plastic baggies inside; one baggie contained an opaque, crystalline substance I believed from my past experience to be methamphetamine, another contained a white granulated substance I believed to be either methamphetamine or cocaine, and the last baggie contained a thick black substance that I believed from my past experience to be heroin.”
A photo lineup was created consisting of Alvarez Solano's photo and five other random females, with the victim picking Alvarez Solano from the lineup as the suspect in the vehicle theft and extortion. Power was ruled out as a possible suspect in the vehicle theft and extortion. He was taken into custody in connection with the drugs because of his seating position in the car when it was pulled over and the location of the recovered drugs, according to police records.
Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.