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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 11, 2017)
Street Roots • August 11-17, 2017 News STALKING, from page 4 around the world. He also left his phone number. Snitily called him, and he answered. The officer told him that if he came back to Montana’s house, he would be arrested. The officer then urged Montana to call 911 and apply for a stalking protective order if he returned. Over the next 10 days, Montana was fearful to be home alone. She asked friends to keep her company when her roommates were away. “I was home alone for no more than 20 minutes,” she said. Montana wrote a detailed Facebook post outlining her experience with Chi, complete with a screenshot of his Lyft profile picture and a warning to others to not get into his car. She posted it on June 20, and it got more than 1,700 likes. The post also drew comments from women who said they’d had similar experiences with cabdrivers or other ride- hailing services. Street Roots asked Portland Police Bureau if it tracks how many police reports are filed against drivers working for ride- hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft. Bureau spokesperson Sgt. Pete Simpson said he doesn’t have a way of linking and tracking these reports because, unlike brick- and-mortar businesses, complaints filed against Lyft and Uber drivers are not tied to a specific address. While not every incident makes headlines, those that do are listed at WhosDrivingYou. org, an initiative of the Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Association. It links to articles about Uber and Lyft driver accidents and crimes around the globe, including sexual assaults, kidnappings and deaths. This drivers lobby argues that neither Uber nor Lyft uses fingerprints or law enforcement to background-check their drivers and that Uber does not meet with drivers in person before putting them behind the wheel. One woman who read Montana’s Facebook post told her that she, too, had been stalked by Chi. Street Roots reached out to this woman, but she declined to go on record with her story, citing her job as a private dancer as reason. Chi confirmed he knew the stripper when Street Roots contacted him to get his side of the story. He also confirmed Montana’s version of events. He May 5, 20 17” 9:47 PM appeared to have no understanding of why his actions caused $9.01 her alarm. Thanks for riding with Michael He said it was “no big deal” and asked if Montana was still in Costa Rica. , x Being blind or indifferent to the distress of their victims is a common trait among stalkers. (See “Stalkers” on this page.) Montana showed Street Roots messages between her and the other victim. The dancer said she met Chi while she was working and regrettably gave him her phone number, thinking she could just block him. He called and messaged her nonstop. He even tried to follow her home from work one night. Page 5 Every other of the subway’s heated seats is a 50yo MILF that looks 30.” The same day Montana received the letter, she called the police again, and another officer came out to take a report. The following day, she went to the Multnomah County Courthouse to get a stalking protective order. She was given a thick packet to fill out. As she filled out the packet, she realized there was a problem. The courts required Chi’s address. She said Lyft told her repeatedly they couldn’t give her the address without a subpoena. Officer Snitily worked nights, and Lyft was only open during the day. She was getting nowhere. On July 5, she walked into the Lyft Hub on North Mississippi Avenue and pleaded her case to a manager on duty, who said he would check with Lyft’s legal department. Finally, the address was released to the police department the following day. The next morning, Montana went back to the courthouse. According to a statement from Lyft, “As soon as we were made aware of this incident, we immediately deactivated the driver from the Lyft platform. We also reached out to the passenger to check on their well-being. We have been in touch with the authorities and are prepared to assist further.” As Montana filled out the stalking order packet, she realized there was another issue: She was required to submit her real name and birthdate - information that w o u ld b e a v a ila b le to C h i, w h o o n ly k n e w Eventually she had to change her phone number and had him 86’d from the strip club where she works. She never reported him to the police. She said Chi drove for Uber, as well. However, a spokesperson for Uber said the company does not have “anyone on the app” with his name. Chi had pursued the dancer, who bears a more-than-striking resemblance to Montana, through the winter and into April. It was in May when he met Montana. “He basically went straight from her to me,” Montana said. On June 29, Montana came home from a day on Sauvie Island to find a letter from Chi with no return address. It was five pages of rambling, meandering miss-matched stories from his childhood and past relationships. Here are a few excerpts: “I had a Jacuzzi in the backyard of the house I grew up in .... All the girls had to change into their swimsuits in my room too, her alias. “I was like, do I want to file this?” she said. “He could stalk me forever now.” She said she explained this to the man behind the counter at the courthouse, but he told her, “Everybody has the right to face their accuser.” Feeling out of options, she filed for the stalking order. “I thought if he comes anywhere near me, I want it on paper that I have a protective order against him - if I need to defend myself or whatever,” she said. “I can build a case against him, so in the future if someone does do a background check on him, he can’t drive for these companies.” Three days later, Montana returned to the courthouse for her hearing. She brought a friend who manages a security company in case Chi showed up. He didn’t. He said he never got the hearing notice. which was also pretty cool. ... 12th grade I Judicial Officer Jon Ghastin read through got drunk once and climbed into this girl’s Montana’s packet, where she described the window.... You have to forgive me for events leading up to the hearing. How Chi creeping you out at the bar and at your came to her work, and her home right after house... You must forgive me and be friends she walked in the door, and how he had with me. ... You are the only SE II know in mailed her a letter, all stemming from a Portland. (SEI is a personality type that 10-minute ride. Montana does not identify a s .)... My best Ghastin read the letter, making comments friend in high school was an SEI and the about how Chi appeared to be a “unique” first time I met him I pushed him off a bike. character. Montana felt like he wasn’t taking ... You are like a Leo (his friend’s name) her fears seriously. with ovaries. We so need to be best friends. “Obviously this guy has a very special ... My last GF ... she wouldn’t sleep with me flavor,” Montana recalled him saying. for the first m onth.... Once, I tried to In a recording of the hearing, Ghastin can corner her when she was taking a shower, be heard rendering his judgment: but it didn’t work. ... I was 31 and she was “Is this improper conduct or maybe 19. ... The girl before her ... she got hella unlawful? Perhaps. There are statutes that mad at me. She gave me the exact same evil forbid telephonic harassment and trespass, eye that you did at the bar when I asked you but I don’t think we have the circumstances those personal questions, and OMG she here now, and hopefully ever, for a stalking looks just like you, same facial structure, hair color and eye color.... Japan has the See STALKING, page 7 highest MILFs per capita in the w orld....
