PORTLAND, Ore. -- Portland police are still hunting the man accused of impersonating a police officer, the same man who kidnapped two women from downtown Portland after a concert on Thursday night.

Portland Police Detectives identified the suspect as 42-year-old Paul Evans Winklebleck, a registered sex offender with an outstanding warrant for sex abuse and a parole violation. He also uses the last name of Sullivan and Rose.

Winklebleck approached the two women as they were walking to their car and told them he worked for the Portland Police Bureau. The man said he wanted to help them because he said the women were drunk.

One of the women told police they refused and returned to their car, but the stranger insisted, stating the police were waiting for them if they drove away and that if they left their car in the lot, it would be towed.

The two women then allowed the man to drive their car because he claimed "he worked for the police and it was his job to get them home." Portland police have stated they have no such officers working for the bureau.

The women said the man drove them through town, got onto I-5  southbound and at one point pulled out a knife. While driving, he forced one of the women to take several pills then the driver got off the freeway at the Detroit Lake exit and stopped the car on a gravel road  when the suspect threatened them and assaulted one of the women, according to the alleged victims.

One woman was able to run to a nearby home and the people inside called 9-1-1.

The vehicle was found Friday about 10 miles from where the woman called for help. The other woman escaped into the woods until Marion County deputies arrived.  "They're fortunate and the fact that they were able to escape is pretty amazing. We 're taking this very seriously," said Detective Mary Wheat.


Paul Evans Winklebleck is a white male, in his late 30s, about 5'11" tall, with a stocky build, short, reddish brown hair and a thick goatee.  "He was armed with a knife, gave one of the girls pills, and so we're concerned he could be looking for other victims and someone else might not be so lucky to get away," said Wheat.

Winklebleck is mostly likely driving a green GMC Sonoma pickup with an Oregon license plate of 289EPF. He is currently wanted for third-degree sex abuse and also has a warrant on an probation violation, and is also a registered sex offender. Anyone with information on Winklebleck's whereabouts should call 911 and call Detective Michele Michaels at 503-823-0635.