Portland mother finds homeless woman in KID’S BED, startled intruder throws ottomon at homeowner

A Portland, Oregon mother who found a homeless woman in her son’s bed was blindsided a second time when the city’s woke district attorney let the intruder go within 24 hours. 

Kelsey Smith, from Northeast Portland, first knew something was amiss when she heard her dogs barking in a bedroom and went to investigate. She initially thought her husband was playing a prank on her, but within moments quickly realized someone had broken into her home to hide out. 

After backing out of the room and calling for help, Smith was bum rushed by the intruder, who had picked up an ottoman and threw it at her before leaving the home. 

The frightening ordeal was caught on a camera that Smith has set up in the room to monitor her son’s medical condition. 

Police later identified the culprit as Lynn Zinser, 54, who was arrested and booked into the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office jail on charges of burglary and harassment. But, no sooner than she had been arrested, her charges were dropped and she was free to walk the streets of the famously liberal town once again. 

Zinser’s bail was set at a baffling $0 with the District Attorney’s Office said to be gathering more evidence before they move forward with any further charges against her.

The woman, seen in green, left, made her way onto Kelsey Smith’s son’s bed 

The woman decided to make herself comfortable as she nestled down in a pile of laundry 

Lynn Zinser, 54, was arrested and booked into the Multnomah County Sheriff’s jail on charges of burglary and harassment but released one day later

Zinser has been arrested a number of times for theft, attempted robbery and burglary including sneaking into people’s home

Portland is currently in the grip of a homeless crisis with tent cities having sprung up all over the place.

Lax bail reform laws implemented by woke Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt have left little to no deterrent for criminals in the city.  

Zinser was able to enter the home uninvited because the front door had been left unlocked in order to allow contractors in who were renovating a bathroom in the home.

After hearing her dogs barking like mad, Smith followed them into a bedroom at the back of the one-story home. 

‘The dogs continued to go crazy, specifically my chihuahua, which was running circles around my legs, which was really unusual,’ Smith said to Fox 12.  

Kelsey Smith, picture with two of her four children and husband Justin, top left, initially thought he was playing a prank on her 

Husband, Justin Dodge, is known to be a bit of a trickster, but wife Kelsey, quickly realized it wasn’t one of his usual pranks

‘I followed her to where the other dog was into my children’s bedroom. My Labrador was standing on top of the bed on top of a pile of clean clothes that I had thrown on there. I walked in wondering if she had cornered a mouse or something because she was going crazy and I realized there was a person under there.’

Smith then even called out the name of her husband thinking he might be under the clothes but there was no reply. 

‘Oh my God, Justin!’ she cried, but there was no response. 

Only then did she realize there was in fact a homeless person on the bed.

‘I backed out of the room, talking to my friend on the phone saying I needed help, that there was a homeless person in the kid’s bed,’ Smith went on. 

One of Smith’s dogs realized something wasn’t right and began barking like mad

Kelsey Smith, seen left in grey, thought her husband was playing a joke and even called out. ‘Oh my God, Justin!’ – of course, Justin was nowhere to be found

The family’s black Labrador raised the alarm by jumping on the bed where the homeless woman lay

The woman got up with a start when she heard Smith was planning to call the police 

The homeless woman then picked up an ottoman and chucked it directly at Smith

Kelsey Smith, a mother of four, who lives in Northeast Portland found a homeless woman lying amongst clothing on top of her son’s bed

A number of local journalist came to Smith’s home to hear the crazy story for themselves

‘At that point she leapt up, I recognized her as a woman. She hopped off the bed and picked up the ottoman at the foot of the bed and bum rushed me, threw it at me, and then meandered out the door.’ 

Smith can then be heard telling the woman to leave while her son called 911.

Zinser then started swearing at her and picked up an ottoman, throwing it at her before walking out of the home. 

‘My first thought was what is going on?’ Smith said. ‘The fear didn’t come until after she was gone and I started to run through the scenarios in my head about how this could have played out differently if my younger kids had been home. 

‘My 24-year-old son heard the commotion and came running upstairs, charging up the stairs because he knew something was wrong. He went straight out the door and into the street following her, calling 911.’ 

Zinser was quickly arrested and charged but just one day later she was released without bail under a ‘court ordered release.’

When Smith contacted the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office of Mike Schmidt, she was told Zinser’s charges had been dropped despite clear video evidence of the crime.

The woman then meandered out of the home back out onto the street

The dog followed the homeless woman back out onto the street where she was soon arrested

Portland’s woke DA: Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt

Hundreds of police officers have retired or quit Portland’s force over the last two years.  

In exit interviews released to local journalists, officers who resigned in Portland often cited Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt as one of the reasons.

Schmidt, an outspoken progressive and police critic, came into office during the height of the riots in the summer of 2020 and promptly enacted a policy decriminalizing most riot-related offenses. 

Schmidt ran as a progressive and won 77 percent of the vote just days before George Floyd’s killing in Minneapolis in May 2020.

Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt ran as a progressive and won 77 percent of the vote just days before George Floyd’s killing in Minneapolis in May 2020

Just ten days into his tenure Schmidt announced how his office would decline to prosecute protesters over the majority of misdemeanor charges they were being arrested for, including criminal trespass, disorderly conduct, and interference with a police officer.

At the time, the pandemic coupled with a spike in violent crime had already bogged down court proceedings, and most of those arrested at protests would have to wait months for their hearings – so it was simply easier not to prosecute in the first place. 

Instead, Schmidt’s office was to focus on more serious protest-related crimes, including  property damage, theft, and the use or threat of force. 

Schmidt explained his policy as a desire to ‘focus on the cases that are actually going to have a positive impact on public safety.’ 

But with the pandemic in the rear view mirror, little appears to have changed. 

His successful 2020 campaign was supported by Real Justice, a political action committee co-founded by radical anti-police activist Shaun King.

Over 90 percent of those arrested at the riots in 2020 in Portland for crimes ranging from arson to assault had their cases effectively dropped.

Although the police budget was cut in 2021, it was restored for 2022, but by then the damage had been done with efforts seemingly too little, too late.

In 2021, Portland surpassed its all-time record for murders at 90 homicides with things looking equally as bad for 2022 with 66 murders as of September 15.

For a city of 650,000 residents, Portland had more homicides in 2021 than larger cities on the west coast like San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle.

Compounding the problem is that the number of sworn officers in the Portland Police Bureau is at its lowest since the 1980s despite the city experiencing surging population growth for the last 30 years.

Currently, there are around 800 sworn officers in the city – about 230 down from full staffing.

A lack of policing coupled with leniency when it comes to prosecutions  is making Portland attractive for all the wrong reasons.

Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt (here with wife Clare and their son) in photos from his Facebook page

‘They said the charges have been dropped and that I can leave a message for the DA and he can call you back,’ Smith said. 

‘I haven’t heard anything and that was days ago. I have to assume someone heard that message and nobody has gotten back to me. I don’t understand why she is not in jail. She’s not harmless. She proved that. She’s proved that from the stories that I’ve heard from other people.’

‘I feel like the city is declining rapidly and there is a need for more mental health services, more training for the police, probably more police, more community outreach, but I don’t know,’ Smith said.

‘It was really disturbing to have her curled up in my children’s room. I mean, the safety of this whole household just feels like it’s been upended,’ she told KPIC. 

‘Something has to change. I mean, something has to change. I hope that the city officials are doing something different than what they’ve been doing because it’s not working,’ Smith added. 

Mike Schmidt, Multnomah County District Attorney, is an outspoken progressive and police critic, came into office during the height of the riots in the summer of 2020 and promptly enacted a policy decriminalizing most riot-related offenses

DA Mike Schmidt is an outspoken progressive and police critic, who came into office during the height of the riots in the summer of 2020 and promptly enacted a policy decriminalizing most riot-related offenses. 

But now his woke bail policies are also affecting other quality-of-life issues around Portland. 

His successful 2020 campaign was supported by Real Justice, a political action committee co-founded by radical anti-police activist Shaun King.

Over 90 percent of those arrested at the riots in 2020 in Portland for crimes ranging from arson to assault had their cases effectively dropped.

Police have said the DA is actually rejecting cases without giving sufficient reasons and appear to be unable to know which cases to prioritize because they’re unsure which cases prosecutors will ultimately choose to charge, according to Wweek.com.

Tents surrounded by trash line residential streets in multiple neighborhoods in the city of Portland, as it wrestles with an out of control homeless population which is now spreading out from the downtown area into the surrounding suburbs

Portland is in the midst of a homelessness crisis. 

Although the city is known for its unique neighborhoods, bike-friendly commutes, and locally-owned businesses, many Portland residents have become so terrified of homeless people plaguing the area, which has now spread into the suburbs.

The Democratic city has one of the most deserted downtowns in the United States as soaring crime rates and homelessness are scaring away both locals and tourists.

The crisis has become so bad that many homeowners are looking to leave. 

Homeless camps are now becoming a permanent fixture in the suburbs, with the city being forced to conduct sweeps on a regular basis.  

A map shows the various homeless encampments across the city of Portland

Tents crowd the sidewalk that is littered with trash from homeless communities setting up camp in areas spread from downtown Portland now out through the suburbs 

Tents line the streets in the Portland suburbs where residents say they are fed up with people lingering and doing drugs

Portland declared a state of emergency on homelessness in 2015 and has extended it five times since then. The measure, now set to expire in 2025, reduces the bureaucratic red tape surrounding the creation of homeless shelters. 

Despite the city’s years-long emergency measure, the estimated number of people experiencing homelessness spiked 25 percent in the Portland area between 2020 and 2022, according to point-in-time counts reported to The Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Oregon’s homelessness crisis has been fueled by a housing shortage, the coronavirus pandemic and the highest drug addiction rate of any state in the nation. Federal data from the latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that nine percent of teens and adults in Oregon had illicit drug use disorders in 2020.

The state has wrestled with a debate over the best way to reduce homelessness. Some business groups have called for more encampment sweeps and stricter enforcement of anti-camping ordinances, while others want more investment in social services and affordable housing.

Along with the influx of homeless communities, comes the rising numbers in crime and drug use. 

The drug crisis in Portland, especially among homeless communities, has become unmanageable for authorities in the area.

Photos show the desperate situation in the liberal Pacific Northwest city, where people can be seen shooting up drugs or passed out in broad daylight.

Oregon was the first state in the United States to decriminalize possession of personal-use amounts of heroin, methamphetamine, LSD, oxycodone, and other drugs after voters approved a ballot measure in 2020 to decriminalize hard drugs.

A person found with personal amounts of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, and other drugs receives a citation, like a traffic ticket, with the maximum $100 fine waived if they call a hotline for a health assessment.

The state’s program, which has been promoted as a way to establish and fund addiction recovery centers that would offer people aid instead of incarceration, is being watched as a potential model for other states.

But drug overdose deaths in the state also hit an all-time high in 2021 with 1069, a 41 percent increase from 2020.