A Portland doctor got a violent wake-up call when a homeless attacker knocked her unconscious prompting her to blame the “Defund the Police” movement and to switch political parties from Democrat to Republican.

(Video Credit: Fox News)

The attack took 50-year-old radiologist Mary Costantino totally off-guard and occurred in a good neighborhood in Southwest Portland.

She had just left the gym at about 10:30 pm on Friday and was heading to her car with a friend when an allegedly homeless man bashed her in the face with an aluminum water bottle, knocking her out. She woke up with blood gushing from her mouth.

She called 911 believing that she was going to be killed and waited well over 20 minutes for them to arrive. That caused her to comment that “we’re all on our own,” and to slam Democrats over the “Defund the Police” movement.

“I do not hold the police accountable for this at all — I hold our city accountable for defunding the police,” Costantino told Fox News. “We don’t have enough police force to protect our citizens, and we did this to ourselves.”

(Video Credit: Daily Mail)

“I thought we were still being sort of attacked in some way,” Costantino recounted. “I was like, ‘I’m going to just try to verbalize a report of what’s happening, so there’s some record of how I died.'”

When she was attacked, the man did not yell and there was no sign of danger. It came out of nowhere. The doctor believes that her friend saved her from being harmed further by her assailant. Police describe the suspect that attacked Constantino as a white male in his 20s-30s.

“It happened really fast, kind of out of nowhere,” Costantino told Fox News. “He just threw an aluminum water bottle and it hit my face. It was hurled pretty hard and it just got me, just knocked me right in the head.”

Her 6’7″ friend, fortunately, came to her defense.

“He said that the perpetrator … was still coming towards me,” she noted. “And he turned around and really aggressively yelled at him and the guy ran away.”

Portland woman knocked out by attacker blames city for slow police response: ‘We did this to ourselves’ https://t.co/N48EfcHLy9

— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 3, 2023

“Had it not been for this person being with me, it would have, I think, been a lot worse,” Costantino claimed.

A spokesperson for the Portland Police Bureau told Fox News via an email that the  TriMet surveillance video “captured what appears to be the unprovoked and brutal attack.”

Police officers were dispatched to the scene of the attack at 10:55 pm. That was about 20 minutes after Costantino was hit. They arrived at her location eight minutes after that, according to the spokesperson.

By the time the police finally arrived, the doctor had given up waiting for them and had gone home.

“If we don’t have police officers to come to the side of somebody who is under attack, then we’re all on our own,” Costantino declared.

How much more will it take to ,
Wake people up?
Like living in a dam mad max
Movie.
The crap that happens nuts.
Stay safe ❣️
my fellow Americans

— Tanya Marie Lane (@Tanya143Marie) August 3, 2023

This is nothing new in Portland. Residents have been subjected to increasingly long police response times for years. The average wait time for a high-priority call was 23.7 minutes in July, according to PPB data. That is the longest wait time for police response in over a decade.

“Our goal is always to help as much as we can, as quickly as we can. But with our staffing being at historic lows, this has become a challenge for us,” Lt. Nathan Sheppard told Fox News via an email response. “At the time this call came in, our officers were actively on 26 calls throughout the city. There were 0 free officers and another 52 calls holding.”

In September, the Portland police had about 100 openings. Currently, they have approximately 80.

“Our officers joined the Police Bureau to help people, and when they are unable, it takes a toll,” the spokesperson asserted. “We’re continuing to hire, so there’s definitely hope, and things WILL get better.”

SORRY STATE OF AFFAIRS: “A Portland doctor said a homeless man knocked her unconscious while walking in the city, and then she waited more than 20 minutes without a police response.”

— Irving Spud (@IrvingSpud) August 3, 2023

“I am heartbroken that my dear friend Mary was so badly hurt,” commented Kristin Olson, an outspoken critic of Oregon politics who was the first to report Costantino’s story on her “Rational in Portland” podcast. “Portlanders have a right and a reasonable expectation to peacefully move about this city without fear that they will be assaulted as they walk down the street.”

“I’m not so concerned for myself, I’m concerned for my friends, I’m concerned for my kids, I’m concerned for everyone walking around downtown,” the doctor said.

“I care about people, I care about every single person in my community, no matter what color flag you wave who you are where you live, and I get angry thinking this could happen to anybody,” Costantino concluded.

We NEED Police…. pic.twitter.com/orlf46MPvD

— Judy Covington (@JudyCovington9) August 3, 2023

The horrific attack seems to have solidified Constantino’s political leanings. She now says that after experiencing the deterioration of public safety in Portland, it has “100%” changed her voting habits.

“I absolutely did not vote for Jo Ann Hardesty,” she stated, referring to a previous city commissioner who supported defunding the police in 2020. She cast her vote for Republican Christine Drazan in the governor’s race.

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