Police are asking the public to be on the lookout for a man or men who have waved cash at children to lure them into a car in Northeast Portland.
Officers from the Police Bureau’s North Precinct responded Sunday afternoon to Khunamokwst Park on Northeast Alberta Street on reports that a man approached two girls. Offers later learned of two other similar instances, police said in a news release.
The girls, ages 10 and 11, told officers a man in a silver car with missing lights in the rear, a damaged driver’s side door and no license plate followed them as they walked home on Alberta Court, police said. He waved money at them and asked the girls to approach the car, police said.
The girls ran away and told a parent, who called police. They described the man as heavy-set, wearing dark clothing, in his 30s, with a beard and smelling of marijuana, police said.
While officers were investigating, police received a similar report from a 9-year-old girl. She told officers she was approached by a man in his car offering money from his window near a church at Northeast 56th Avenue and Alberta Street.
The girl described the man in his 20s with a thin build and short curly hair underneath a baseball hat. She told officers his car was old and white with plastic tape over the back window, police said.
Later, a 55-year-old woman was walking her grandchildren home when a man approached them in a similar fashion, police said. No suspect description from her was released by police, but she told officers the man’s car was an older gray Honda, police said.
“At this point, no suspect or suspects have been identified and it is not certain that all three incidents are the same person, although the neighborhood and activity is very similar,” police said in the news release.
Officers are asking anyone in the area with residential surveillance cameras to review their recordings for any possible images of the suspect or suspects. Anyone who witnesses any luring-type incident should call 911 immediately, police said.
— Tony Hernandez
thernandez@oregonian.com
503-294-5928
@tonyhreports
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