Incident took place Monday at Rosalia rest area
ROSALIA — An expected romantic encounter at the local rest area became a crime scene early Monday morning after two women allegedly robbed a Spokane man, taking his wallet and later allegedly shooting at him.
The women, Rienna Louise Edgeman, 24, of Evans, Colo., and Stacy Lynn Nieri, 25, of Moscow, Idaho, will be arraigned July 9 in Whitman County Superior Court on possible charges of first-degree robbery and first-degree assault.
They were arrested and booked into the jail Monday, July 5, and appeared in Superior Court on Tuesday, July 6.
According to the Whitman County Sheriff’s Office, the women were arrested early Monday morning after the victim, whose name has yet to be released, called law enforcement to report the robbery.
Three deputies and a Washington State University police officer responded to the call from Horn School Rest Area, along U.S. Highway 195 south of town, at about 3:30 a.m. Monday, records show.
The victim told responding law enforcement officers that the robbery occurred during a planned hookup with a prostitute.
The victim and woman met earlier in the morning and drove in different cars to Lewiston, Idaho, to pick up the woman’s friend, records show. On the way back to Spokane, all three stopped at the rest area to use the restroom and for sex.
The victim claims the woman reportedly gave him a syringe of drugs to take, but he faked using it because he didn’t know what it was, according to a report. He went into the restroom and undressed.
But instead of sex, she took his wallet and ran the report said.
The man initially claimed there was $4,000 in cash in his wallet when he called 9-1-1, the report said. Later he said it was $2,700.
The assailants fled in a 2021 Nissan Versa, the report said. The victim gave chase in his pickup.
He caught up with them on Cache Creek Road, just south of the rest area, the report said. The victim claims he pulled in front of the Nissan to stop the women and backed up to talk.
Nieri then pulled a firearm, the report shows.
The victim told the deputy he saw a gun and a laser “pointed inside his driver’s side window,” the report said. So, he tried to turn around, the report said. Edgeman, who was driving, also tried to turn around.
That’s when the victim heard a gunshot and sped off to the rest area to call 9-1-1, the report said.
After interviewing the victim, deputies responding to the area located the Nissan, the report said.
“Nieri admitted to driving the vehicle with Edgeman in the passenger seat. Edgeman admitted to discjharging the firearm at (the victim) … Edgeman admitted to stealing (the victim’s) wallet,” the report said.
Officer found a 9 mm Smith and Wesson MP Shield pistol in the Nissan.
The women told deputies they fired because they believed he was trying to run them off the road, the report said.
Deputies retrieved $100 Edgeman and $213 from Nieri, who hid the cash in her bra, the report said. There was no mention of any other cash being retrieved.
Bill Stevenson is a retired editor of the Whitman County Gazette, Colfax Daily Bulletin and Franklin Connection. He had nearly 30 years of journalism experience covering news in Eastern Washington.
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