Portland community searched for 'serial stalker' amid police inaction, delays
https://www.foxnews.com/us/portland-serial-stalker-police-protest-filled-summer-reportA “serial stalker” who allegedly terrorized a Portland neighborhood is believed to have been found following a community-led effort after residents said police were slow to respond to calls for help, if they answered them at all, according to a podcast that aired Monday.
A community of residents from the North Tabor and Rose City Park neighborhoods banded together in search of the man who is said to have harassed at least 11 locals – terrorizing them through the windows of their homes and, in one instance, even breaking in and trying to touch a 13-year-old girl while she was lying in bed, The Oregonian/Oregon Live recently reported. The neighbors shared information, kept crime logs, and patrolled the area with the hope of directing police to the suspect.
Police confirmed the report to Fox News on Monday.
The startling trend reportedly began in the beginning-to-middle of the year and extended through the summer months and into fall. But local residents said they were largely left without help after Portland Police Bureau’s response was often too slow, if it came at all, according to the report.
How is defunding the police working out?
But Pirkey was released shortly thereafter and has not yet been charged in connection with the string of incidents in which the man would allegedly pleasure himself as he watched people through their windows, or follow victims home.
Maxine Bernstein, The Oregonian/Oregon Live reporter who broke the news of the neighborhood effort, told the outlet’s “Beat Check podcast” that some of the terrifying instances were said to have happened “during the summer months,” while police were often tied up with the frequent instances of civil unrest.
“I heard from all the neighbors that they were just frustrated by either the slow response by police or lack of a response,” Bernstein said during the segment, which aired Monday. “They all heard that the reason that police couldn’t get out there as quickly or couldn’t dedicate time to it was because officers were drawn to coverage of the nightly protests that were occurring in the city.”
To make matters worse, Bernstein said, “There was only one burglary detective for the entire city this summer – that’s in a city that had more than 5,000 burglaries reported in a year in the past year.”
Quixotic.
