Portland Woman Arrested After Stealing Passerby’s Vehicle

The victim learned the hard way, don’t pick-up strangers.

33-year-old Andrea Even. Corvallis Police Department

(CORVALLIS) - Corvallis police arrested a Portland woman Wednesday after she stole a vehicle from a passing motorist she asked to give her a ride.

Police say 33-year-old Andrea Even got into the man’s car and told him she had a gun.

She ordered the man to surrender his vehicle and made him get out of the vehicle near the intersection of SW Monroe Ave and SW 4th Street.

Even then drove west on Philomath Boulevard, continuing through Philomath onto westbound Hwy 20.

The Corvallis Regional Communications Center received several calls from citizens regarding her erratic driving. Officers from the Corvallis Police Department, the Benton County Sheriff's Office and the Oregon State Police responded and located Even and the stolen vehicle on Hwy 20 near Lilly Hill Road.

The vehicle would no longer run and was apparently mechanically disabled as a result of Even's driving. She exited the vehicle and left it parked in the roadway. Even entered a semi truck that had stopped due to the disabled vehicle, but got out of the truck as officers arrived. She was taken into custody without incident. Even was not in possession of a gun at the time of her arrest.

She was logged in the Benton County Jail on charges of Second Degree Robbery, Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle, Menacing, Coercion, First Degree Criminal Mischief, First Degree Theft, Reckless Driving, DUII Alcohol, and Two counts of Second Degree Trespass.