Four people, including residents of H.B. and Newport, plead not guilty in Irvine woman’s kidnapping

Two Huntington Beach residents and a Newport Beach man were among four defendants who pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges connected to an Irvine woman’s abduction that prosecutors said had the goal of extorting a “large sum” of 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 each charged with one felony count of aggravated kidnapping for ransom and extortion, one felony count of residential burglary and one felony count of attempted extortion, according to the criminal complaint.

Medrano also was charged with one felony count of being a felon in possession of ammunition and one misdemeanor count of possession of marijuana for sale.

Schley also was charged with one misdemeanor count of carrying a loaded firearm in public.

The four are accused of kidnapping a woman from her Irvine apartment on Aug. 28 with intent to extort money from her husband and mother-in-law, prosecutors said.

Authorities allege the defendants sent pictures of the captive woman to her husband.

Irvine police rescued the woman after her mother-in-law requested a welfare check, authorities said. It’s unclear where she was rescued from.

The woman knew at least one of the defendants, prosecutors said.

Schley, Wang and Soylular were arrested Friday, Medrano on Saturday, according to Orange County Jail records.

All four were booked into jail with bail set at $1 million. Each is scheduled to be in court Sept. 12, court records show.

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