Police called Joe Williams last month to tell him his 1995 Jeep Cherokee, reported stolen a week before, had been found idling on a residential street in Northeast Portland.

The suspected thieves left behind some curious odds and ends, the Jeep’s owner would discover.

A large stuffed bear. A tattoo gun, ink and rubber gloves. A portable cell phone charger.

“And some crazy tools — like the ones you’d use to break into cars,” said Williams, 55, who lives in Southeast Portland’s Richmond neighborhood with his family.

The alleged prowlers, it turns out, also found a disposable camera the family had long forgotten about in the glovebox. So they snapped a couple of pictures of themselves during their escapades.

That turned out to be a problem, because they neglected to take the camera with them when they ditched the car — engine running, heater and windshield wipers on — along Northeast 40th Avenue and Thompson Street on Aug. 11.

Williams said his teenage children found the camera after he got the Jeep back and they were cleaning it out. They took the film to Fred Meyer to be developed, thinking they’d unearth a few old gems.

“They came home from Freddy’s and said, ‘Dad, you won’t believe what we found on the camera,’” Williams said.

One photo showed a tattooed and dark-haired man in the driver’s seat, drinking what appears to be a fountain soda or 7-Eleven Slurpee. A second man sits beside him.

Another photo was a selfie of a blond-haired woman, mouth agape.

Amused, Williams posted the photographs to the social networking site NextDoor.

“Anyone recognize these Einsteins?” he asked in the post.

Several people in his neighborhood thought they did, Williams said. However, he does not plan to provide the photographs to police or pursue the case any further.

“The Jeep’s older than dirt,” said Williams. “When I bought my new car, I was going to trade it in. The dealer offered $65 for it.”

“It’s one of those things where we’ve had it so long,” he continued. “The kids grew up with it, so now it’s part of the family.”

Williams said he also planned to keep the tattoo equipment left behind in the Jeep. But his wife didn’t want it in the house.

“So I left it on the front porch,” he said.

“Someone stole it.”

-- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh; 503-294-7632

Email at skavanaugh@oregonian.com

Follow on Twitter @shanedkavanaugh

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