Quincy woman sentenced for stealing vehicle

QUINCY — A Quincy woman was sentenced for 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 vehicle.

Magdalena Alvarez Solano, 29, of Quincy, pleaded guilty in Grant County Superior Court to theft of a motor vehicle. Following a joint recommendation between Deputy Prosecutor Mark Laiminger and defense attorney Robert Kentner, Grant County Superior Court Judge John Antosz sentenced Alvarez Solano to 57 days of confinement in the Grant County Jail. A charge of first-degree extortion was dismissed in a plea agreement between Laiminger and Kentner.

In mid-December the Grant County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a robbery in the 14300 block of Road W in Quincy. The victim in the robbery, a 61-year-old man, claimed a woman who was temporarily living with him had taken him to a hospital in the Quincy area.

He said the woman, whom he only knew as “Magdalena,” was driving and told him, “I’m going to take you so they can kill you.” He said he was able to escape from his vehicle and had a family member take him the rest of the way to Wenatchee. In Wenatchee the victim reported his vehicle as stolen, as well as a cellphone that was left in the vehicle.

The victim claimed he returned to his residence and Alvarez Solano approached him with two unknown males. Alvarez Solano told the man her friends would beat him up if he didn’t agree to sign a piece of paper stating he gave her permission to drive his vehicle

“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.

Alvarez Solano was pulled over a few hours later in Soap Lake driving the victim’s vehicle. Alvarez Solano and another man were detained and the owner of the vehicle gave police permission to search it. Officers located the victim’s passport, naturalization certificate, and other legal/financial documents in 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.”

The victim was able to positively identify Alvarez Solano from a photo lineup and she was taken into custody.