GLENDALE : 2 Held in Alleged Extortion Attempt
An independent contractor at KVEA Channel 52 was arrested Thursday for allegedly staging his own kidnaping as a ruse to extort $265 from his supervisor at the Spanish-language television station, police said.
James Andrew Molina, 29, of Camarillo was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit extortion, said Glendale Police Investigator Bob Masucci. Also taken into custody on the same allegation was Cleo Querbion Soratorio, 28, of Los Angeles.
Molina made two phone calls Thursday morning to Channel 52 engineering director Glenn McJennett, saying he was being held hostage by two men demanding money for a debt, Masucci said.
Masucci said that the engineering apprentice told McJennett to deliver $265 and meet Molina at a 7-Eleven store at Sonora Avenue and San Fernando Road, and that Molina and Soratorio were arrested there shortly after the transaction.
Masucci and McJennett used their own money for the ransom payment.
The two suspects were booked Thursday into Glendale City Jail.
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