Thieves target Latino women in `gold' scam.Byline: Rebecca Nolan The Register-Guard Two con men have been preying on Latino women in Eugene, Springfield and other Oregon cities There are two places named Oregon City in the United States:
tr.v. in·tim·i·dat·ed, in·tim·i·dat·ing, in·tim·i·dates 1. To make timid; fill with fear. 2. To coerce or inhibit by or as if by threats. the women into withdrawing large amounts of cash from their bank accounts. In some cases, the men give the women what looks like a gold bar, telling them to sell it to recoup recoup To sell an asset at a price sufficient to recover the original outlay or to offset a previous loss. their financial losses. The bar turns out to be fake - brass made to look like gold. In all cases, the Latino men target non-English-speaking Latino women, usually accompanied by children ages 5 to 9, Eugene violent crimes Detective Jeff Donaca said Friday during a news conference at CentroLatino Americano. The men promise not to harm the women or their children as long as they hand over the cash. In one case, one of them showed a woman a gun tucked in his waistband. "The women are all scared," Donaca said. "They are afraid they will be harmed if they don't comply." One suspect is in his 20s, the other is in his 50s. They are well dressed and neatly groomed groom n. 1. A person employed to take care of horses or a stable. 2. A bridegroom. 3. One of several officers in an English royal household. 4. Archaic a. A man. b. . At least one of the men speaks both English and Spanish. The first documented case occurred June 7, 2004, at the Dollar Store on River Road in Eugene. Two men confronted a Latino woman outside the store and ordered her to take them to her bank. When she said she didn't want to, one of the men showed her a gun. The woman drove the men to her bank, where she withdrew cash from the automatic teller machine See ATM. . The men then forced her to enter the bank and withdraw more money, Donaca said. Police on Friday distributed images of the men captured on bank security cameras. After the woman and her husband reported the robbery, Eugene police sent a description of the suspects and the crime to other police agencies on the West Coast. Police agencies in Woodburn and Marion County Marion County is the name of seventeen counties in the United States of America, mostly named for General Francis Marion:
In the Woodburn case, the men gave the woman a fake gold bar and told her to sell it. The case went cold until Aug. 9, when a woman told police she was approached by two Latino men while she shopped with her 5-year-old daughter at the Wal-Mart on West 11th Avenue in Eugene. The men said they would not hurt her or her child if she complied with their demands, Donaca said. Terrified ter·ri·fy tr.v. ter·ri·fied, ter·ri·fy·ing, ter·ri·fies 1. To fill with terror; make deeply afraid. See Synonyms at frighten. 2. To menace or threaten; intimidate. , the 24-year-old woman drove the pair across the street to her bank and they followed her inside. One of the men posed as the victim's husband and spoke with the teller, Donaca said. Afterward af·ter·ward also af·ter·wards adv. At a later time; subsequently. Adv. 1. afterward - happening at a time subsequent to a reference time; "he apologized subsequently"; "he's going to the store but he'll be back here , she dropped the men off at Wal-Mart and they handed her a `gold' bar. Detectives sent a second teletype out to Oregon police agencies and learned that two men did the same thing to a woman in Salem on April 26. In another incident, a woman was shopping Monday inside the Ross Dress for Less at Gateway Mall Gateway Mall may refer to:
hard-luck story n → histoire larmoyante hard-luck story n → about a relative in need of medical care. They showed her what they said was a gold bar and offered to sell it to her for $3,000, Springfield police records show. The woman drove the men to a house and her bank to gather the money. But when she tried to sell the bar, she learned it was brass. Detectives suspect there are other cases that have not been reported to police. All of the women involved said they were afraid to ask for help, partly because they could not speak English, Donaca said. But it's better to create a scene in a crowded public place than take your chances alone in a car with strangers, he said. "It puts the cards in the suspects' hands once you leave with them," Donaca said. He encouraged women to make a ruckus and draw attention to themselves, regardless of their language or cultural differences. "People - I like to think - universally would come to help," he said. HOW TO HELP CORRECTION (ran 8/23/2005): Lupe Thompson is the station manager at the Whiteaker Public Safety Station. A story on Page D1 in Saturday's paper had the wrong last name. Anyone with information about the robberies targeting Latino women should call their local police department, or Eugene police Detective Jeff Donaca at 682-5193. Spanish speakers can call Lupe Johnson at 682-8188. People can also call the city's Human Rights Support System at 682-5177 to reach a Spanish speaker. Local police officers in Oregon do not enforce immigration law This article or section contains information about scheduled or expected future events. It may contain tentative information; the content may change as the event approaches and more information becomes available. . Anyone can report a crime or provide information to police, regardless of their immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important. status. Spanish-speaking officers and 911 operators are available. |
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