In brief: Suspect held in alleged extortion

A man is in the Spokane County Jail facing a charge of extortion after he reportedly demanded money from a man while waving a gun in the air.

Bond for Jacob L. Bendt, 28, was set at $5,000 during a court appearance Thursday.

Bendt reportedly invited two men, a downstairs neighbor and a guest of the neighbor, to his apartment to watch a movie May 17. Both men told police that once they were inside Bendt’s apartment he became upset and demanded his neighbor’s guest pay Bendt $50, according to court documents.

The men told police Bendt unloaded and reloaded the gun as he waved it around, threatening to beat up the guest. They said they left as soon as Bendt put the gun away.

The manager of the apartment complex told police Bendt had recently made threats against other tenants, according to court documents.

Motorcyclist suffers serious injuries

A man was seriously injured Wednesday after he crashed his motorcycle near Moses Lake.

Nicholas Brubaker, 27, was heading south on McLaughlin Road Northeast on his 2103 Yamaha around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday when he crashed into a Chevy Equinox that was making a left hand turn, according to the Grant County Sheriff’s Office. The motorcycle was reportedly speeding, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Brubaker, of Moses Lake, was transported to Samaritan Hospital and later transferred to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center.

The driver of the Equinox, identified as 20-year-old Miguel Villafana, received minor injuries and was not taken to the hospital.

Body in river may be missing hiker’s

LEAVENWORTH, Wash. – A Chelan County sheriff’s spokesman said searchers have been looking along Icicle River near Leavenworth for a woman overdue on a day hike with her dog.

Emergency management specialist Rich Magnussen said the sheriff’s helicopter spotted what is believed to be a body in the water Thursday. Officers have begun efforts to recover the body.

The missing woman’s name was not immediately released.

A search began Wednesday after her vehicle was found parked, with her dog outside it.