Woman knocked unconscious in random NW Portland attack; suspect wanted
By Jeffrey Lindblom
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PORTLAND, Oregon (KPTV) — Police are asking for the public’s help after an unknown suspect knocked a woman unconscious with a metal bottle in NW Portland.
Video shows Doctor Mary Costantino walking near a MAX train station when she was hit by a metal water bottle.
“I got hit and I fell to the ground and was knocked unconscious,” Dr. Costantino said. “It was hurled pretty hard. It happened fast, kind of out of nowhere.”
Dr. Costantino was attacked Friday night and by a man police say was in his 20s or 30s, wearing a dark hoodie with a white logo and black pants. He was last seen heading east on SW Yamhill Street.
Kristin Olson, who is friends with Dr. Costantino calls her the athletic one their friend group.
“If she could have seen this coming, she would have taken this person on, and my money would be on her. But,” Olson explained, “she didn’t see it coming.”
At first, Dr. Costantino told Olson she had no idea what hit her.
“She said it felt like it could have been a brick.”
Doctor Costantino eventually came to after being knocked unconscious by the attack but was confused and uncertain of her condition and feared the worst. She said she called the police, but no one came. However, that’s not something she faults them for.
“If we don’t have police officers to come to the side of someone who is under attack,” she said, “then we’re all on our own.”
Olson added, “the idea that this violent individual is still walking around here is terrifying and it should be terrifying to anybody that lives in the city of Portland. It’s not just this guy. There’s a billion of these guys running around right now.”
Olson said she hasn’t felt safe in the city for some time, but especially not now given her friend’s condition.
“No,” she asserted. “I don’t feel safe in Portland.”
Olson said Costantino was getting back from dinner with her friend, which is something she believes anyone should be able to do and feel safe.
“She wasn’t traversing around China Town at 2 a.m.,” she said. “We should be able to enjoy our city, and we should feel safe doing that.”
Doctor Costantino credits the man she was with that night, who she described as 6-foot 7-inches and strong, with saving her. She said when the suspect came back, her friend was ready to confront him, and he ran away.
“But it was still an attack happening,” Doctor Constantino explained, “and had it not been for the person I was with, I think it would have been a lot worse.”
Dr. Costantino did not get medical treatment, even though she thinks she might have needed a look at her head. Instead, she said she went home.
“I’m not so concerned for myself,” Dr. Costantino said. “I’m concerned for my friends. I’m concerned for my kids. I’m concerned with everybody walking around downtown. I get angry thinking this could happen to somebody I care about. Or just anybody even if I don’t know them.”
The unidentified suspect threw a metal bottle into the victim’s face, causing her to lose consciousness.
Police describe the victim as a white male in his 20s-30s. He was last seen wearing a dark flannel jacket with a black or darker hood, black shirt with a white logo across the chest area, black pants, and carrying a backpack.
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