Charges filed against four suspects in Irvine kidnapping
Three men and one woman were charged Wednesday, Sept. 4, on suspicion of kidnapping an Irvine woman to extort money from her family.
Ezra Schley, 71, and Yang “Rose” Wang, 37, both of Huntington Beach; Reha Soylular, 54, of Newport Beach, and George Armando Medrano, 34, of Norco, are charged with felony counts of aggravated kidnapping for ransom, burglary and attempted extortion, Orange County District Attorney’s officials said in a news release.
Medrano was additionally charged with being a felon in possession of ammunition, a felony, and misdemeanor counts of possession of marijuana for sale and carrying a loaded firearm in public.
Not guilty pleas were entered by Schley and Medrano at their arraignment in Santa Ana. They were ordered to return to court on Sept. 12 for a pretrial hearing at the Harbor Justice Center.
The status of their co-defendants was not immediately clear.
The four were held in lieu of $1 million bail. They face a minimum sentence of seven years and a maximum sentence of life behind bars if convicted on all charges.
The defendants allegedly kidnapped the victim, referred to as Jane Doe in the news release, from her apartment Wednesday, Aug. 28, then demanded a large sum of money from her husband and mother-in-law in exchange for her safe return.
The kidnappers sent the victim’s family photos of her through an online app, said the release. She was “previously acquainted” with at least one of the four people accused of abducting her, but OCDA officials did not elaborate on why the woman was targeted in what was characterized as an “isolated incident.”
The woman was rescued by Irvine police after her mother-in-law called to request a welfare check, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
“Diligent police work by the Irvine Police Department helped locate this victim before further trauma could be inflicted on her and her loved ones,” District Attorney Todd Spitzer said.
Irvine police did not immediately respond to requests for comment.