A woman accused in a Northeast Portland carjacking and who was captured in Ridgefield told officers she stole the car because Portland police were trying to kill her, court records state.
The car’s owner, delivery driver Latrese Pack, was injured during the incident after she tried to stop the thief, identified by police as Joey R. Campbell, and got hung up on the driver’s side window as the car sped off.
Campbell, 37, of Seattle was scheduled to appear Monday in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of possession of a stolen vehicle, driving while under the influence and third-degree driving with a suspended license. However, she was too sick to appear, according to custody officers.
Pack is a driver for Postmates, a food delivery service, according to The Columbian’s news partner KATU-TV. She was present in court Monday and told media she wants Campbell to have “consequences for her actions.”
According to the Portland Police Bureau, officers responded to a report of a carjacking in the Summer neighborhood, in the 5000 block of Northeast 86th Avenue, about 2 p.m. Sunday.
Pack told KATU she was making a food delivery at the time, and left her 2008 Chevrolet Impala running and the door open. As she was dropping off the order, she turned and saw a woman getting into her car. Pack said she reached her hand through the partially open driver’s side window to unlock the car, but the thief sped off and she fell.
Portland police said Pack was taken to a hospital for her injuries, and on Monday, her left wrist was in a brace.
“I wanted to stand up for myself,” Pack told media, later adding that the outcome could have been a lot worse.
About an hour after the alleged carjacking, Ridgefield police were alerted to a reckless vehicle on North Main Avenue. They located the car, which ran a red light at Main and Pioneer and sped away, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in Superior Court.
The car abruptly pulled off the side of the road, driving up onto the curb, and then traveled back to the road. Campbell opened the door and yelled, “Don’t shoot me, I just stole this car,” the affidavit said. She was subsequently arrested.
An officer said Campbell smelled of alcohol, her eyes were red and glossy, her face was flushed, and her body was twitching and jerking. She appeared to be hallucinating and was rambling about being murdered by Portland police, according to court documents.
Campbell told police she had consumed five beers, and a preliminary breath test found she had a blood-alcohol level of 0.038. Her blood was drawn for toxicology testing, court records said.
She’s expected in court Tuesday.
