Savvy Mill Park resident talks armed burglar into giving up his gun

Find out how she defused this potentially life-threatening situation at her outer East Portland home ….

Police officers rush to a home in the Mill Park neighborhood, after a resident calls to report that an armed man broke into her house.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

The man who clambered over her fence didn’t “look right” to a Mill Park resident at home in the 11500 block of SE Morrison Street, between SE Yamhill and Stark streets, on the afternoon of December 10.

As the incident unfolded, a bit after 2:00 p.m., the resident called the 9-1-1 Center because her concern had turned into worry, in view of the fact that the scruffy-looking older man had a gun in his hand.

But, worry turned into fear, when the man broke into the woman’s home through a window.

“The victim tried to leave and hide, but the suspect found her, so she started talking to him,” related Portland Police Bureau Public Information Officer Sgt. Pete Simpson.

When East Precinct officers arrive, they find the suspect coming out the front door of the home without his gun.

“As officers were en route to the scene, they received additional information from the victim that she’d talked the man into putting down his gun and moving away from it in the home,” Simpson said. “The victim, a 61-year-old woman, convinced the man to surrender to police when they arrived.”

When officers arrived at the home, 55-year-old Keith Paul Mitchell walked out of the front door with his hands up, and he was taken into custody without incident, Simpson added.

“The victim told police that Mitchell was not making sense, and it appeared to her that he was in a mental health crisis and might also be high on meth,” added Simpson.

55-year-old Keith Paul Mitchell is booked into jail on numerous charges.

Mitchell was booked into the Multnomah County Jail at 5:53 p.m. that evening, on charges of Burglary in the First Degree, Coercion, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, Unlawful Use of a Weapon, Menacing, and Pointing a Firearm at Another.

In lieu of $65,500 bail for these charges, and an additional $55,555 Multnomah County “Hold”, Mitchell remains a resident of Multnomah County’s Inverness Jail.

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