A bumper sticker that read "United We Stand'' was the only distinguishing mark left on a stolen 1991 Ford van that Sonny Plew towed to West Coast Car Crushing in North Portland on Oct. 15, 2013.

That's how Portland police, who had hidden video cameras trained on the wrecking yard, were able to identify that the van belonged to carpet layer Daniel Speer, who had reported it stolen the day before. The van had been parked on Southeast 136th Avenue near Speer's home. About $3,000 in tools he'd accumulated throughout his career were gone.

"After 20 years of laying carpet, I have had to start over from scratch,'' Speer wrote in a statement read in court at Plew's sentencing hearing Friday. "It makes me ill to think that all my years of hard work and gathering tools meant so little to someone else that they would scrap my livelihood for $700.''

Speer was one of at least five victims who owned vehicles Plew stole and towed to be crushed at the wrecking yard in exchange for cash. Plew is the latest of about two dozen tow-truck drivers arrested in the past year to face sentencing stemming from a large Portland metropolitan area auto-theft investigation.

Many others who had their cars stolen relied on their vehicles to get to and from work, take their children to school or go grocery shopping and likely didn't have the means to replace the cars, Uphoff told the court. "He messed with them,'' he said.

Craven Darkheart said she was stranded at her job at Bridgetown Natural Foods at midnight on Dec. 29, 2013 because her 1990 Mazda 626 was stolen. Her husband had driven her to work that day in her Mazda, and he usually picked her up from her job. But about 8 p.m, he called to say the car was stolen from near the house.

"I had no way to get home but walk,'' said Darkheart, who trekked home in the dark from Southeast Foster Road and 116th Avenue to her home near Southeast 130th Avenue and Bush Street.

Ten days later, on Jan. 8, 2014, police spotted a man driving her stolen Mazda in North Portland and arrested him. Plew claimed he had borrowed the Mazda from a friend for $350.

Darkheart went to pick it up. "There were beer cans in the back seat. It reeked of marijuana. He had violated my car,'' Darkheart said. "It was an ugly car, but it was my car.''

Another victim, Dewayne Kennedy, had his 1998 Mercury Mountaineer stolen from the side of Interstate 84, near Lloyd Center, after he had run out of gas. The vehicle was stolen on Oct. 14, 2013, and Plew was caught on the hidden police video towing it into West Coast Car Crushing the next day, police said.

Nudged by the judge to apologize to his victims Friday, Plew stood and said, "This all has been hard for me, too. ... I'm sorry you guys had to go through it.''

Bloch said he recognized Plew's crimes were fueled by a drug addiction. He said he hoped Plew might begin to understand the hardships he caused his victims.

"I hope you can use that to motivate you to never again be someone who victimizes others,'' Bloch told Plew. "The larger question I wrestle with as a judge is what can we do to promote or ensure these will be your last victims.''

Bloch ordered Plew to attend drug court, undergo treatment and random urinalysis tests and sign up for job training, immediately after he completes his prison time.

As Bloch, who presides over Multnomah County's drug court, stepped down from the bench and deputies handcuffed Plew, Bloch pointed to the defendant and said, "I'll be looking for you.''

-- Maxine Bernstein

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