On the lam

Remember that newly seated Clackamas County commissioner who lost her position over her felony theft and forgery indictment earlier this year? It was right before I shut down blogging that the details came out about the case against her. Her name is Melissa Fireside, and she's, shall we say, quite a character.

Back when the charges came down, I predicted that we'd be entertained by her case. But then it kind of fell off the radar screen. Until yesterday, that is. 

Now comes word that the authorities think she's fled the country and taken her 9-year-old son with her. The prosecutors say she may have flown to Amsterdam by way of Mexico. Her trial was supposed to start on December 2.

Popcorn alert!

It gets wilder the further your read. Fireside reportedly has an Austrian passport and may have used that and fake ID to get into Mexico and then into Holland. From there, who knows where her next destination might be? 

Adding to the colorful details, she had told the Department of Justice that she was living in Morrow County, a.k.a. the middle of nowhere, out by Heppner and Boardman, before she allegedly skipped. Supposedly she was living in Lexington, population 238. 

The cops weren't watching her too closely way out there, I guess – if at all. They found out about her quick checkout when her ex- noticed that she had withdrawn their son from school, and the both of them vanished.

Did nobody at her arraignment ask what passports she had? Did anyone wonder what the heck she was doing out in Morrow County?

If I had to guess, the long arm of the law will catch up with Fireside eventually, somewhere. But I hope not too soon. One can only imagine what kind of poses she'll strike overseas before this all catches up to her. And the New York Post is watching. They get the dirt when Dems go bad.

There is no need for Netflix when you live in greater Portlandia.