1975 Subaru And My Purse

Sometimes Tom and I would go to an iconic pizzeria in SE Portland called the Organ Grinder. The Organ Grinder was known to have a huge organ, arguably the biggest in the state. It also had arcade games and quite a few of the rolling ball games that gives you tickets the higher you score. All this in addition to pizza. We weren’t regulars but went there a handful of times. 

On this particular occasion I had the (not so) brilliant idea to leave my purse under the driver’s seat and lock the doors. This was so I didn’t have to keep track of it while playing games. I think you can guess where this is going. No idea what kind of pizza we had but I’ll never forget coming out and seeing the lock on my door had been broken and my purse was missing. I also remember seeing a guy in a white pickup look at us and then leave the parking lot. 

We went inside and reported the theft and discovered the Organ Grinder parking lot was the “car break-in capital of Oregon.” Well that would have been nice to know. 

I wanted my purse back. 

I needed my purse back. 

Later that day, my brother John and I, went back to see what we could find. Maybe in a bush. Maybe next to a dumpster. We looked everywhere and did not find it. What we did notice was the guy in the white pickup sitting in a parking spot watching people come and go...mostly go, as in leave their car. Then...the guy noticed me noticing him. We made eye contact, and he took off, but not before I got his license plate number and a pretty good description of both him and the pickup. 

I called the police and gave them all the info I had (back then the Portland police did pay attention to theft and car related crimes). I then went home. A few hours later I received a phone call from the police to come and identify my purse and belongings. 

Turns out the pickup was also stolen which got a little more attention.