Watch Out For This Scam In Portland Oregon: Pedestrian Fakes Being Hit By Car,

My father had an exciting time today. He was driving near the Walmart at Holgate and 82nd avenue. He was stuck in traffic and barely moving along at 1 miles per hour and this black woman walks out in front of his giant SUV carrying packages and bags. She appears to have been hit by the car and her packages and bags are all over the street. She gets up and she has a witness who happens to be a bystander and he is also black. She gets up off the ground and goes over to the car. I guess my father stopped the car and gets out to help her. He has an other witness in the car who is riding with him and she had something to do with the pedestrian cross walk law in Portland. The woman gets up and she is painfully limping she comes over to the car and my father and asks for money by reaching out her hand but she speaks no English. The black guy who is her witness is trying to translate for her into English. She will take money and she won't report you to police is what he tells my father. (get the scam already?) It gets better.

There happens to be yet another witness who actually calls 911 while this is happening. The police, the fire department and an ambulance show up at the scene to do their thing , take reports and treat the poor injured woman. This is wasting more than a half an hour. My father's friend is talking to the woman who understands no English reassuringly while all this is going on. Then Police ID the woman and find out there is outstanding warrant for her arrest for having done the exact same scam before. The black guy who was her witness runs away and the police arrest and put the woman into the police car and she can speak English perfectly well. My father considered giving her $10! Cheapskate he is. If he was stupid enough to open his wallet he could have been mugged! Do you even open the door of the car to help if something like this is going on? How do you know what to do?

She is no longer limping or in any pain as the police dragged her away and she did know how to speak English. This scam could have even been more dangerous. What if the woman faking being hit by the car was just a way to get the driver to get out of the car so some other guy could carjack the vehicle. If something like this happens to you call 911 immediately and assess the situation. If it is a carjacking scheme you may just want to hit and run to get the car a few blocks away and then walk back This kind of crap is way too dangerous when you are out alone in the dark along 82nd avenue. Portland can be a very dangerous place to live. My father found it all entertaining. It sounds all wrong to me. My father later told me he wondered if the police might even be involved in the scam? This is not Mexico City yet is it? Well anyway, this is just a scam alert. Contact me if you experienced the same scam to compare notes.