Portland mom shares how she stayed safe during home intrusion

A Mother's Courage in the Face of Intrusion

An Oregon mother showed remarkable bravery when she confronted an intruder who entered her home in the middle of the night. Amanda Materi Brown, 44, was watching a movie after putting her children to bed on Thursday when a man broke into her $1 million Portland home through the sliding glass door.

Materi Brown described the incident as terrifying. "He was screaming really loudly, nonsensical, I couldn't really understand except, 'I'll kill you, I'll kill everyone,' was really obvious," she told KPTV. Her reaction was to "meet crazy with crazy." She grabbed a stick that she kept by her bed and chased the intruder out.

"I just went for him. I completely just started swinging the stick at him, and he started backing up out of the house, which was ideal," Materi Brown said.

Brave mom details break in

She then called 911 and reported that a stranger had broken into her home while she and her children were inside. According to the Portland Police Bureau (PPB), she mentioned that the man threatened to kill them all. She armed herself with a stick and chased the man, who grabbed a metal garbage can lid and fled from the home.

Officers tracked the suspect, identified as 35-year-old Timothy Reed, to a nearby footbridge where he was confronted by the police. Body camera footage appeared to show Reed holding the garbage can lid and a rock police say was "roughly the size of a softball."

He was being hostile with officers as they tried to stop him, saying: "I'm not afraid of you pig, I'll kill you." According to PPB, Reed struck the officer in the head with the rock as they arrested him. The officer was transported to the hospital via police vehicle, treated and released. He has been cleared to return to duty, police said.

Suspect faces multiple felony charges after violent arrest

Reed was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center on charges of burglary in the first degree, escape in the first degree, assault in the second degree, assaulting a police officer, and criminal mischief in the third degree. His next court hearing is scheduled for June 9, and his bail has not been set.

Portland has one of the highest rates of property crime in the country, with about 7,086 incidents per 100,000 people, according to 2025 data released by the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office. "It's a very difficult time. But it's a time that I believe we need to focus on core services such as public safety to make sure that we can continue to see these trends, to make sure that we can get our community in as healthy and as safe a place as possible," District Attorney Nathan Vasquez told KGW when the report came out in April.

Materi Brown said she and her family are relieved that Reed is in custody, but are still shaken up. "We're okay. You know, bad things happen in life and we're not going to let it make us afraid," she said.

According to the local news station, Reed was arrested just days before the home invasion for allegedly exposing himself to children at a park on May 11. He also allegedly threatened to kill the responding officer during that altercation as well.

"Deputy Farmer reports that he asked Reed why he'd been naked in front of children in the park, and Reed made rambling statements about, 'being told to do it by God' and other nonsensical remarks," court filings obtained by the outlet stated. "Deputy Farmer asked Reed if he knew that there had been children in close proximity to him while he was naked and he admitted that he knew, but didn't see a problem with it."

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