The Strange Case of Benjamin Bucur

“There are no strangers here. Only friends you haven't met yet.”

- William Bulter Yeats

But not always.

About 11:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 3, 2025, a neighbor in a townhouse condominium association in Clackamas County Oregon, about 16 miles outside of Portland, saw someone not known to the neighbor park his car, get out, walk around the row of townhouses and disappear behind the Units.

The neighbor waited a bit and then followed.

The neighbor noticed a light coming from underneath a slightly ajar door that opened into a crawl space beneath a unit.

The neighbor went closer to check things out as it was unusual to have light coming from a crawl space..

The door slowly closed and locked.

The neighbor called the police. They met the owners, who lived in the unit above their crawl space, who gave the police a key to the crawl space door . The police inserted the key … but the lock had been changed.

The police forced the door open and found someone living in the crawl space. The townhouses were set on a hill that dropped sharply in the back, so it was big enough to stand up straight in some areas, closest to the door, and not so much the further you ventured into the crawl space. You can find pictures and videos on line.

Inside the police found a 40 year old man, later identified as Benjamin Bucur. He had been there for an extended period of time and made it his home. He put up a string of lights to brighten the area, and had numerous electronics including televisions, an electric fan, Xbox, and a charger. And a pipe with some white residue on it.

There was no generator to power the electronics, which the owners upstairs surely would have heard. Rather, he had an extension cord running through a vent and into the unit, off of which the Owners were unknowingly providing him, and paying for, electricity.

It is unknown how long he had been living there, but the owners did report they had heard sounds coming from the crawl space. But the noises must have been slight and intermittent as they never thought to go down and check the crawl space.

And there was no indication as to how the owners had not noticed the extension cord plugged in and running into the vent down to the crawl space. The cord being plugged into an outlet on the main floor means, of course, at one point someone, likely Mr. Bucur, had not stayed simply in the crawl space, but had gone into the unit itself.

He was arrested and charged with burglary and possession of methtamphetamine.

I have not been able to find out the result of the criminal case, but it's safe to assume he'll have to go find another place to live.

This was clearly unsettling to the owners in that unit and others in the Association. And thank goodness for the concerned and observant and perhaps a bit too curious neighbor.

Keep in mind, condominium associations are community associations. They are named as such for a reason. There's a line between being nosy and being aware. Keep an eye out for things that just don't just look or feel right, such as strange cars, repeatedly seeing unknown visitors seemingly not going into a Unit, walking behind units and not up to front door, and/or hanging around pools or community playgrounds. Let your board of directors know when you see community lights out and make sure they are replaced soon. An ounce of prevention after all, as our parents told us, is worth a pound of cure.

Oh, by the way, the town where this occurred? Happy Valley.

I kid you not.

For more tales, tips and advice, check out my book:

https://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Parallel-Place-Advice-Condos/dp/B0DLV2F7P7

And thanks for reading!