Gresham Elder Robbery

Usually the financial exploitation/abuse I write about has to do with caregivers taking advantage of vulnerable people. That's not always the case. Sometimes you hear about slimy community members looking for a "mark", or a victim they can rip off. This story tells of such a slimy person robbing an 84 year old man IN AN Albertson's PARKING LOT. Where the hell is their security?? From the Gresham Outlook...

Gresham police nab man suspected of stealing elderly resident’s wallet
Transit officer recognized Tyler Nathan Trump in surveillance video
By Mara Stine

A robber who allegedly stole a wallet containing $465 from the hand of an 84-year-old Gresham man is behind bars thanks to a police officer’s eagle eye.

Tyler Nathan Trump, 23, of Gresham is being held on $5,000 bail at the Multnomah County Inverness Jail on a charge of felony third-degree robbery.

Trump reportedly stole the wallet from a man named Earl, who asked that his last name not be printed, at Albertsons off Northeast 181st and Glisan Street on the morning of Wednesday, Sept. 24. The suspect asked for $1 to buy his wife roses for her birthday and the elderly man, feeling sorry for him, had pulled out his wallet to give him some cash.

During the struggle over the wallet, the victim’s hand was bruised. Once the suspect pried it out of the victim’s grip, he fled the scene. However, video surveillance of the suspect allowed officers to ask for the community’s help identifying him.

While watching television news coverage of the robbery, Lee Graham, Gresham transit police officer, recognized the suspect from their many encounters on the light-rail line. Graham and his partner, Officer Charles Skeahan, had arrested Trump four times over 11 months, said Sgt. Mike LeDuc, a Gresham police spokesman.

After the victim identified Trump as the robber, the officers arrested Trump at his apartment in the 200 block of Northeast 162nd Avenue at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17.

Over the past four years, Trump has been arrested on charges of burglary, robbery, theft, criminal mischief, drug possession and riding light-rail without a fare, LeDuc said.

The victim is glad police caught Trump and hopes he is sentenced to some serious jail time.

“I told ’em to hang him,” Earl said.