Thieves trick drivers with fake emergencies in Portland

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - Two thieves pretended to be in an emergency to get drivers to pull over multiple times in Portland on Sunday afternoon, according to the Portland Police Bureau.

The incidents started around midday on Sunday.

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The suspects stole a purse from one of the victims’ cars after they were pulled over, and then stole another victim’s car after she got out to see what was wrong.

The victims provided similar descriptions of the suspects and the suspect vehicle in each of the four incidents.

All of the victims described the suspects as a Black man in his late teens to early twenties and a Black teenage boy around 14 years old. The suspects’ vehicle was described by the victims as a blue-silver Subaru Forester with no license plate.

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This was the timeline, according to PPB:

• 12:09 p.m. - Two suspects in a silver Subaru Forester with no plates flagged a woman down on Southeast Oaks Park Way near Sellwood Park, according to the victim. They advised her to stop because her gas tank was smoking. While the victim was speaking with the driver of the suspect vehicle, the other suspect got out, went around the passenger side of the victim’s car, and stole her purse, according to PPB. The two suspects then fled in their car.
• 12:29 p.m. - A victim called 911 to report that a silver or blue Subaru Forrester pulled up next to her while she was sitting in her car, and said her car was leaking fluids. A teenager jumped into her car and drove away after she got out of her car and walked to the back to inspect the leak. The location of the incident was not specified by police.
• 12:33 p.m. - Someone called 911 to report that they were driving near Southeast Crystal Springs Boulevard and 42nd Avenue earlier Sunday when a “silver-bluish grey” Subaru with no license plates pulled up in front of them and attempted to make them pull over. According to the 911 caller, they were able to drive around the suspects and escape.
• Sunday afternoon - A woman flagged down officers near Southeast Crystal Springs Boulevard and 48th Avenue, claiming that a young man and a teenager pulled up behind her, flashed their lights and honked, then pulled up alongside her and stated that her car was leaking fluids. When she rolled down her window to speak with the suspects, the teen attempted to enter her vehicle through the open window. She informed officers that she had been able to stop him, and the suspects then drove away.

No arrests have been made. Anyone with further information is encouraged to contact Portland Police.

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