Crime

I found my apartment on Craigslist before I had ever even so much as set foot in Portland. It seemed like a nice place, a late model condo, secure building, secure, covered parking which is perfect for my motorcycle. And after I arrived in Portland and found the building, it seemed like a pretty quiet area for the most part. It's kind of an industrial area and a little on the scummy side, but nothing like the 'bad' parts of town back in Virginia. Not my ideal place to live, but it'll do for now.

Well, I started to get more concerned about the location once I started telling people where it was. They'd say things like, 'oh, I never go up there' and 'oh yeah, there are a lot of meth addicts in that area.' So I began jokingly referring to it as the Meth District whenever I'd tell anyone where I lived.

It's been pretty quiet, however about a month ago around midnight, I was awakened to loud talking - loud talking through a bullhorn - from a police car. It was directed at a neighboring apartment complex and they were pleading with the guy to please come out or pick up the phone and let them know he was alright. It didn't seem like he had hostages, but appeared to be a lone individual who had for whatever reason become holed up in his apartment. It must've ended peacefully because I got to sleep and wasn't awakened by the sound of gunshots.

Then a couple of weeks ago on a Saturday, I was headed out and just about a block away on the major bike path that parallels Interstate 205 there were a bunch of cops and a van marked 'Homicide'. There on the bike path, under a sheet lay some poor bastard, who either died on his own or was helped along during the wee hours by someone no doubt seeking his next fix.

Finally, tonight just as I arrived home on my motorcycle police cars started racing into the neighborhood and strategically placing themselves at various intersections. Looks like someone made a withdrawl from the Plaid Pantry convenience store up the block. It doesn't appear to be more than a robbery or robbery attempt because the police presence has dwindled and the familiar 'Homicide' van hasn't showed up.