Woman accepts ride from stranger, later found asleep on porch
PORTLAND, Ore. -- A U.S. Postal Service letter carrier found a woman asleep on a Northeast Portland porch after she had gone missing Friday night when she accepted a ride from a stranger.
Angie Swartout, 25, was taken to a Portland hospital to be checked for hypothermia after a strange incident Friday night.
According to police, Swartout and a friend left a downtown Portland bar at about 3:30 a.m. and accepted a ride from an African-American male in a newer silver Prius, or similar vehicle, from Northwest 12th Avenue and Everett Street.
At approximately 4 a.m., in the area of Northeast 14th Avenue and Skidmore Street, the friend got out of the car to check street signs because she was not sure about how to get to Swartout's home. Once the friend was out of the car, the driver left the area with Swartout passed out in the back seat of the car.
Police checked Swartout's residence in the 4300 block of Northeast 10th Avenue, but she was not there. Ultimately, the U.S. Postal Service employee found her on the porch of a home in the 1000 block of Northeast Stafford Street and called police.
Swartout did not appear to be injured or assaulted during the incident and told police she had no idea who the man was who gave her and her friend a ride.
Portland Police Bureau officials said accepting rides from strangers is something people should avoid and that people should only accept transportation from someone they know or legitimate taxi services.
Was the fact that the man was Afro-American relevant to the story? Just wondering.
Too much Anti-Freeze in her system. Probably wake up in a dumpster next time
There is more to this story. http://www.justice4caylee.org/t9582-lucias-scott-swartout-hours-old-2010-springfield-gateway-or
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She was also a meth addict and accused of killing her new born son.Â
Note to Angie Swartout: If you are getting so drunk at age 25 that you end up on someone's porch sleeping it off in winter weather risking hypothermia and not knowing how you got there, you might want to reconsider the quantity of alcohol you consume.
This is just plain stupid! The girl had to get out of the car to read the street signs? She must have been drunk on her butt, as well. He didn't come back? Who knows what happened there? She probably didn't see him, or there was a misunderstanding. Her friend was passed out in the back seat? She's one lucky girl that this guy had no ill intentions. My guess is, he drove around and around looking for where she lived. She probably said, "This looks like the place", and he let her out. No story here ..., other than two stupid girls who got real lucky that the guy that picked them up had a whole lot of integrity and no ill intentions.
Customer:Â "Bartender, would you call me a cab?"
Bartender:Â "OK. You're a cab."
Customer:Â "Ha ha. Very funny. Now, would you call me a damn cab?"
Bartender:Â "OK. You're a damn cab."
doing it wrong!
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Booze works wonders!
She was too wasted to tell the guy where to drop her off so he picked a place... And her friend was not part of his sinister plan so he took advantage of a golden opportunity, she got out and he took off.  No evidence of assault so he probably decided it wasn't a great idea and just dumped her on some porch.  Moral of the story is don't drink more than you can handle. This story could have ended much much worse....
 @HillsboroMike Except the PDX Feminazis and SLUT Walk participants would tell us that a female doesn't have to be accountable for her actions regardless of how much she consumes.Â
 @Lisa  @HillsboroMike Pretty sure the SlutWalk people are trying to spread more of a message like: even if the girls made stupid choices and/or were dressed scantily, assaulters and rapists shouldn't be excused.
geez, whatever happened to calling a cab? must of spent all their money on booze. lucky girls. that was a stupid thing to do. they could of wound up dead.
 @mstercor I think you meant: "...could *HAVE* wound up dead..." : )
@whirledworld @mstercor He was trying to use "could've" I'm sure. Saying it out loud it sounds like "could of" :( Contractions are tricky for most folks....lighten up :)
 @Karla Readsalot Can I? Can I? You forgot the period!
Sorry I could not help myself there, I get tired of the Grammar Nazis as well.
@Karla Readsalot I'm sure you meant "Neurotically" and "grammar," correct? And of course, "let's" is a contraction. Finally, I didn't see a period at the end of your post. Just a minor oversight, yes? :-)
@fracas Lets all nuerotically obsess about grammer and spelling
See Katu? Â Not ALL men are child molesters and wife beaters
 @archon312 Just perceived that way in Feminist Rich, Anti-Male Portland.
 @Lisa  @archon312 True archon312 but if you picked someone up.. and then drop them off on some random strangers porch in the cold passed out that makes you a royal prick and she could of froze to death or who knows what. Owners could of been crazy people whatever. In that situation I would have taken her home and put her on the couch or called the authorities, or tried to find a contact for this lady in her phone or something. Not kick her to the side.. let alone take off and ditch the friend who wasn't passed out. That part of the story is shady. Something smells fishy about this whole thing. Maybe he was planning on doing something shady but then the girl passed out and then just decided to ditch her.
Weird, but that's Portland for ya.
 @dkgiovenco no, it's just weirdness of the world
It's only weird when KATU reports it as happening only in Portland!
@Â pdxd:Â My little Subaru has power windows that can be locked out from the drivers armrest. Also,when the car is switched to run the doors automatically lock. Another OEM safety feature. The power door lock can be manually overridden, but good luck with that in the dark when you don't know the car.
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(I'm a car guy and an engineer...)
http://www.kval.com/news/local/Swartout-reported-missing-found-sleeping-on-a-porch-179811031.html  December 2010  she told detectives in Springfield she gave birth to a baby boy and dumped his body in the trash in October 2010.
 @Monkey Mauer If this woman was the same gal from Springfield, it should be mentioned here that she was found "not guilty" by a jury last summer after a lengthy trial [i believe it was a second trial, the first having ended with a hung jury]. The jury did not believe she had given birth at all - that her saying she had was not true. If the woman in this story is the same woman from the Springfield one, then it should be obvious that she needs help. It also raises the question whether she is being truthful about how she ended up on the porch, though it sounds like she doesn't remember anything because she was so drunk. And it may be a question whether or not the friend is trustworthy.
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My guess though is that the guy thought of taking advantage of this gal, but fortunately for her, he changed his mind and dropped her off - that he either helped her to the nearest porch, or she stumbled there in a stupor.Â
No "if" here, she was. KGW had this news yesterday. I don't mean to comment, just provide some information.
 @Monkey Mauer Love how the assumption in Portland is that men are always looking to "oppress" and rape women. So many brainwashed Feminists around here. Perhaps he was actually just being kind and then realized the girl was "F"ed up and didn't want to face any false ramifications.  People in Portland don't care that DRUNK women can falsely accuse men of crimes which they did not commit yet still destroy their lives. KATU would have posted the guys mug, name and info within minutes. As a woman, I'm exhausted of this culture allowing women to be unaccountable when drinking. Enough is Enough.Â
 @Lisa  Lisa, you don't understand - this man's intentions are suspicious only because he drove off when the woman's "friend" got out of the car to look at a street sign.  Yes, he may have been well-intentioned, but if he did drive off and leave the "friend" stranded, then it is valid to question his intentions. We wouldn't know unless he is contacted by police [Was he in the same bar, drinking, when he offered the women a ride? Are there surveillance cameras in this bar and/or parking lot? Does the bartender know the man?], and the results are disclosed in a follow-up story. Yes, some woman do make false claims of rape, but that is not what this story is about. It is about this particular woman and what a dangerous situation she may have placed herself, because she was so intoxicated. But perhaps the "friend" did all the talking with the man because this woman was too drunk to have any semblance of clear thinking. i wish we had the full story here.
 @Michael L.  @Monkey Mauer mental problems...
Definitely a good thing she was found safe & sound. However, sounds like very irresponsible behavior on the accounts of both ladies. Hope they are safer next time, and only drink within reasonable limits.
In those immortal words of Forrest Gump - "Stupid is as stupid does."Â
@Nobody Thats the first time that has ever been used on this forum..  good one. thoughts/prayers
Is there any chance the dude was just being nice and she was drunk and irritating and he just let her out somewhere close to home?.?.  She subsequently couldn't find her way home because of the admitted intoxication? Â
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Side note: Crime rates are much lower now than they were in the 70's when hitch hiking was more popular, we are just more paranoid now.Â
 @darren vandervort curious about your last statement...can you back up this assertion? Thx
 @whirledworld of course, I always ask for links as well when I see something uncited.  Here you go:
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http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/orcrime.htm
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http://www.oregon.gov/DAS/OEA/docs/prison/index_crime_oregon.pdf
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http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/09/crime_rate_in_oregon_drops_to.html
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For more in depth study I would recommend:
http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/crimestats
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Crime is very low historically speaking. Â This is very counter intuitive to those that get their news from sensationalized reporting, and considering we have been in the gutter economically speaking.
@whirledworld Curious as to why you give a rats. are you curious as to why im curious as to why you give a rats?
 @Karla Readsalot Troll
Ms Swartout is one v-e-r-y lucky woman..! Â Â These days, I think it's taking an awful chance to accept a ride from any stranger ANYWHERE... Â It isn't just the big cities anymore; the criminals and psychos are very mobile... Â
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I was a kid in the '50s... even though people were a lot more trusting back then, we were still taught from "Day One", NEVER, EVER, to accept a ride or go anywhere with a stranger. Â Â When we started driving, we were also taught not to pick up hitch-hikers (also, obviously, not to hitch-hike!)...
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It just isn't a safe world out there anymore...Â
That woman is very lucky she only spent a cold night on a dry porch.
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@felines99: That door handle trick is older than I am. My dad warned me about it and accepting rides from strangers as a kid.
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Now a days there are "safety" systems that have the same effect. My power door locks override the handles and the master controls are on the drivers door armrest. With all new 4 door cars the back doors have a child safety switch that disables the inside handles so a child cannot open the door at speed and fall out. Someone from outside must open the unlocked doors
 @WebFootSTi Provided the driver isn't able to lock the power windows, or if the windows are manually operated, the rear windows could certainly rolled down to reach the external door handle on the outside.Â
This woman was lucky. Getting in a stranger's car in Portland at any time is a bad idea. I recently became aware of something very frightening. There are men in Portland, some known to authorities, who have cars which have the passenger side door handle removed. So a woman accepting a ride from one of them cannot simply get out of the car if she senses danger. So everyone, let's be smart about strangers offering rides, no matter how much you would like to be driven somewhere. Walk or take the bus rather than ever accepting a ride from a stranger.
 @felines99 Those pervs in those kinds of cars have been around for decades. We called them "rape-mobiles" and it was known that if you hitch-hiked (we are taking the 1970's here) you looked at the driver, looked at & checked the door handles inside, etc. before you accepted the ride and got in... and you trusted your guts too....and tried to never hitch alone if you were a female. Of course, it was still risky.
 @whirledworld  @felines99 I'm sure what you say is true. I've lived a rather insulated life, and had never heard of this practice until a few months ago, when I saw a list of these "pervs" at a homeless and battered women's resource center at which I volunteer. Regardless, seeing a multi-page printout with several lines describing each suspect, and his vehicle, and his area of operation within the Rose City, and his preferred sexual behavior(s), sent a chill up my spine.Â
 @felines99 Or is it possible that they simply drive crappy beater cars with lousy interior handles? I know there's been a few times where I've driven older cars belonging to friends and even the interior handle on the driver-side is barely operable. May be a convenient circumstance for these people rather than someone trying to create a trap.
 @pdxd Nope, 'fraid not. The individuals I am referring to have a reputation of picking up strange women and then attempting to engage in sexual activity with the woman. There are several organizations which "track" such people, based on reports from multiple women. These agencies, which provide refuge and assistance to homeless and battered women, print up a list, each month, of a description of each person including possible nicknames; of his vehicle; of the area(s) he frequents; and of his reported behaviors, which women need to be aware of. I have seen this printout and it is chilling.