PORTLAND, Ore. — A Portland woman recently spent an afternoon riding public transportation with a man she met on a gaming website. She didn’t know at the time that man was Jared Walter, a serial transit sex offender.
Tiffany Waterfield said she met Walter through a Pokemon Go website. The two exchanged messages for a few days and met up last Sunday.
Waterfield didn’t know about Walter’s history. Walter is currently in Multnomah County Jail for allegedly inappropriately touching two women while on a TriMet MAX train. Walter, 32, has been arrested 18 times in connection with vile acts aboard Portland-area public transportation. Walter has been convicted of masturbating on buses and cutting women’s hair.
Waterfield described the day she spent with Walter as weird. She said they spent the day jumping on and off buses and street cars, always sitting near women.
“They’d be sitting in front of us and he’d reach out, a little lock of their hair, reach out and touch it and play with it in his fingers a little bit,” she said.
Waterfield said that happened about a half dozen times over the course of the day. At one point, she said a woman reacted.
“She physically turned around and gave him a look like ‘What are you doing?’ And he stopped,” she said.
It’s a pattern of behavior that dates back a decade. Waterfield said she later saw stories about Walter and realized his pattern of behavior wasn’t just odd, it was downright disturbing.
“It's creepy, not even creepy anymore. It's scary, straight up scary,” Waterfied said.
For now, Walter sits behind bars. His bail for two separate charges totals $109,000.
On Friday, TriMet said it is weighing a potential lifetime ban for Walter.
Portland police believe Walter may have harassed others. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 503-962-7566.