A Willamette Week Delivery Vehicle Was Stolen, Too

More than 6,000 vehicles have been stolen so far this year in Portland. As of last Tuesday, that included a hatchback delivering copies of Willamette Week.

The driver was dropping off the Aug. 31 edition of the paper when a man sprinted over, hopped in the driver’s seat of the gray 2008 Toyota Matrix and took off. A bystander called police. Although an officer arrived to take a report only a few minutes later, the thief was long gone.

It happened around 9 pm near Providence Portland Medical Center in North Tabor, according to WW circulation director Jed Hoesch.

“It should be easy to find,” said Hoesch. “[It’s] filled to the top with papers.”

The thief littered Portland with newsprint while making his getaway. A block away, WW recovered dozens of stacks from the side of the road. At least 50 more were found in a dumpster at the Rose City Golf Course.

WW reprinted the papers that were too soiled or couldn’t be found, and the driver went back out the next day to finish the job. The car has still not been recovered.

Richard Meeker, who stepped down as WW’s publisher in 2015, said this was the first such incident he could remember since the paper went free in 1984.

Car thefts have been on the rise in recent years and recently surged again. Portland police say they don’t have the staff to investigate all of the reports. The Portland Police Bureau hasn’t had an auto theft unit since 2006.