A Portland family has been terrorized by squatters who have set up camp next door and have even set fire to their property.
residents Jacob and Beth Adams live next door to an abandoned house that has been taken over by various homeless people. The new neighbors have threatened their livelihood and made them feel unsafe in their own home.
The couple caught their unwanted neighbors overdosing and stealing in their backyard, but said the final straw was when they set Adams’s property on fire.
‘There are fires that have been happening from time to time. Main. This recent one actually came and set fire to our property,” Jacob said. fox12.
Adams’ neighbor, who is a Vietnam veteran, echoed his concern, adding that squatters have made his living situation worse than his military deployment to Vietnam.
“I felt safer walking through downtown Saigon when I was in Vietnam than I did here in Portland,” Armand Martens, 83, told the news outlet.
The horrific moment showed squatters terrorizing a Portland family as many say they feel unsafe as the homelessness crisis worsens. The fire burned down the property of Jacob and Beth Adams
Jacob Adams said squatters have moved into his Portland neighborhood and he always catches them screaming or overdosing. Pictured: A squatter who lives next door to Jacob Adams
Jacob said the city’s changing policies impact his neighborhood as he recalls the last five years of drug use in the area and the constant fires, including the most recent fire.
“Within 12 hours after that fire, another fire appeared,” Jacob recalled. “My wife was screaming and propane tanks were igniting from the fire.”
Footage of the fire showed the fire coming from the squatters house while a woman could be heard screaming in the background.
The unknown danger has led Jacob to purchase his own fire extinguishers in an emergency.
Jacob has constantly called the police to report his trespassing neighbors, but it seems nothing has changed.
“I don’t know how many times I’ve talked to the police, because people are screaming or someone has overdosed,” he told the news outlet. “There are countless, countless calls from first responders.”
Video footage taken from Adams’ front door showed Jacob talking to a man who allegedly stole firewood from his backyard. The robbery was one of many riots by intruders.
‘We all have to love our neighbor no matter who they are. But the minute they start burning down your house, it gets a little bit more difficult,” Jacobs told the news outlet.
Jacob Adams said the city’s changing politics affect his neighborhood as he recalls the last five years of drug use in the area and the constant fires, including the most recent.
Red eviction notices are taped to the exterior walls of the squatter house, but the current residents don’t seem to be taking the hint.
Multnomah County, where Portland is located, had 6,633 homeless people on the night of January 26, 2022. Homeless statistics can be difficult to verify, as people move every day. Pictured: A homeless person in Portland in October
A line of campers is parked along a road where homeless people are housed (Pictured: Portland homeless encampment in October)
Of the 6,633 people counted as homeless, 3,611 lived on the streets and in homeless encampments, and another 2,222 people slept in city shelters.
Portland currently has more than 700 homeless encampments throughout the city. The increase in homelessness has also led to increased crime in the city.
Vietnam veteran Armand Martens, 83, echoed his concern, adding that he felt safer in Saigon than in his own neighborhood.
Red eviction notices are taped to the exterior walls of the squatter house, but the current residents don’t seem to be taking the hint.
‘The hands of the police are tied because they can’t evict people because we called, but what does that do?’ Jacob said.
Multnomah County, where Portland is located, had 6,633 homeless people on the night of January 26, 2022. Homeless statistics can be difficult to verify, as people move every day.
Of the 6,633 people counted as homeless, 3,611 lived on the streets and in homeless encampments, and another 2,222 people slept in city shelters. Another 800 more were in transitional housing.
The increase in homelessness has also led to an increase in crime in the city.
It is understood that there were about 93 homicides in Portland in 2022. However, data from the city’s police department does not yet confirm this number, and they only released statistics up to October of this year. identifying 82 murders.
This number would set a new record for murders in 2022, up from the previous year’s record of 88 in 2021. This surpassed the murder rate in 2020, where there were 57 homicides for comparison.
