Two people from Soldotna are charged with trading in a stolen vehicle at a dealership and committing thousands of dollars in fraudulent credit card purchases, according to an affidavit filed at the Kenai court.
Arlyn Query, 29, and Shawn Schmalzried, 35, allegedly stole a vehicle and several credit cards. According to the Jan. 25 affidavit, the alleged victim called Soldotna-based Alaska State Troopers on Jan. 11 to report fraud and theft. The man told troopers that Query and Schmalzried had been living with him but had recently moved out. When the man received a statement for his credit card for the month of December, he noticed more than $6,000 in unauthorized transactions.
The alleged victim told troopers that the couple had broken into his safe where he kept his credit cards while he was on vacation in December. He also told troopers that he had let Query borrow his car, a Subaru Forester, to help them move. After several days Query did not return the vehicle, and he later realized that his vehicle title was also missing from the safe.
Query was located on Jan. 18 in Anchorage driving a newer Chevy Tahoe that she told Anchorage police she had just recently purchased. Troopers discovered that the Tahoe had been purchased on Jan. 16 by a couple matching the description of Query and Schmalzried at the Kendall Volkswagen dealership in Anchorage. The manager of the dealership informed troopers that the reportedly stolen Subaru Forester was at the dealership and had been traded in by Query and Schmalzried to purchase the Tahoe. Troopers also received security footage from the Kenai Safeway and Walmart that allegedly showed Query and Schmalzried making purchases with the stolen credit cards on several different occasions. Query was arrested in Anchorage and Schmalzried has a warrant issued for his arrest.
Query and Schmalzried face three counts of second-degree theft of access devices, three counts of fraudulent use of access devices, one count of first-degree vehicle theft, one count of first-degree forgery, one count of first-degree burglary, and one count of second-degree theft.
• By BRIAN MAZUREK, Peninsula Clarion
