Gert Boyle, the 86-year chairman of Columbia Sportswear, certainly last week lived up to the “One Tough Mother” role she plays in her company's advertising campaigns, According to The Oregonian, Boyle was confronted outside her home in West Linn, OR last Wednesday by a man claiming to be making a delivery.
When she got suspicious, he pulled a gun and ordered her inside the house. Stating she had to turn off the house alarm system, Boyle tripped a silent panic button to summon the police.
Unaware that the alarm had been triggered, the robber “tied Boyle's hands, roughing her up a little, and began rifling through the house.” After police arrived a few minutes later, the robber headed out the back door. He was later apprehended and was arraigned on charges of robbery, kidnapping and burglary. Boyle is apparently in good shape.
“Gert is fine,” said Kerry Tymchuk, a PR specialist who helped Boyle write her 2005 book. “She's just a bit shaken up, and she has a fat lip. It really was a long night for her. But it's typical of her that she outwitted the burglar. She's a pistol.”
Gert also managed to hold onto her well-known wit through the ordeal. When West Linn Police Chief Terry Timeus visited, “he made the mistake of wearing a North Face jacket,” another officer Sgt. Neil Hennelly told the Oregonian. Said Hennelly, “The police chief asked if she was all right. She said, 'I was OK until that jacket walked in here.'”
