Criminally Dumb Criminal of the Day

A Portland, Oregon woman was arrested and charged with one count of trespassing after police determined a friend was smuggling her into an apartment complex, from which she was banished in April 2011. Authorities found Kola J. McGrath, 50, hiding in a closet of a unit rented by Curtis T. Lowe. Their Trojan Horse: a pink suitcase.

Hotel workers long suspected someone had been smuggled into the complex, but had no way of proving it. However, a caller tipped police about seeing a woman placed in a pink suitcase and carried into one of the units. The suspect's description matched Lowe's, and a subsequent search of his apartment revealed the suitcase and McGrath.

Workers told police the two had been involved in a relationship, but McGrath had been banned from the complex after breaking a fire extinguisher with her purse during an argument. A subsequent warning about violating the building's visitation policy went unheeded. McGrath has since been released.

[arbroath]