Tri-Cities tow company owner accused of extortion back in jail on new federal charge

The owner of a Pasco tow truck company is back in jail, this time on federal charges.

Socorro “Jesse” Lopez-Spindola, the owner of Classic Towing and Recovery, was already facing multiple charges in Franklin County Superior Court, including second degree robbery, death threats and illegally having a gun after an October confrontation.

But he posted a $50,000 bond to remain out of jail on those charges.

In that incident, he is accused of threatening to tow a man’s car on Fourth Avenue in Pasco unless he was paid $350 on the spot and then allegedly grabbed more than $400 out of the man’s hand.

When the car’s owner called to get his money back, Lopez-Spindola, 59, allegedly claimed that he was an “original gangster” from California and that “he could whack him and his family.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation became involved in the case because a gun was found at Lopez-Spindola’s business.

Lopez-Spindola made his first appearance Thursday at the Richland federal courthouse on a federal charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Alexander Ekstrom ordered him taken into custody by U.S. marshals, and he was booked into the Benton County jail Thursday.

Pasco police detectives searched Classic Towing and Recovery in November after Lopez-Spindola was arrested in connection with the October incident.

A loaded .22 caliber revolver was found in his desk drawer along with a bag of what police suspected was methamphetamine, according to federal and state court records.

Lopez-Spindola has been convicted of a number of crimes, including unlawful reentry after deportation in 2013, according to the Eastern Washington District U.S. Attorney’s Office. He was sentenced in federal court to six months incarceration for that conviction.

The federal case being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Pang is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative under President Trump that marshals the resources of the Department of Justice to deter undocumented immigration and protect communities from violent crime.

Tow company owner investigations

In the October incident, Lopez-Spindola and an employee were trying to tow a car parked on property Lopez-Spindola had recently purchased at 214 S. Fourth Ave. in Pasco. There was no sign posted warning of towing, according to a court document.

When the owner of the car and a woman showed up, Lopez-Spindola said he needed to pay $350 or would be charged $1,000 to get it out of impound.

The car owner got $480 out of his car and was handing it to the woman to count when Lopez-Spindola grabbed it out of his hand, according to court documents.

The car owner attempted to get his money back, but Lopez-Spindola allegedly sent him a text message saying he “could send people who work for him to teach (him) a lesson.”

Court documents said Lopez-Spindola also called the car owner and said he had gang connections and could have his entire family killed.

Lopez-Spindola also faces charges of theft of a motor vehicle, third degree theft and first degree criminal impersonation in Franklin County Superior Court from incidents starting in spring 2023 related to his towing company, some filed as recently as December.

In Franklin Superior Court the charges are filed under the last name Spindola-Lopez, rather than Lopez-Spindola as they are in federal court..

This story was originally published March 14, 2025 at 12:46 PM.