Man awarded more than $1 million after 2020 assault by Retriever Towing employee

PORTLAND, OR (KOIN– A jury has awarded a man more than $1.185 million after he was attacked by a Retriever Towing employee at a tow yard in 2020, leaving the man with facial fractures and PTSD, according to his lawyers.

The attack occurred on July 3, 2020, when Curtis Bunch parked in a handicapped parking spot at Retriever Towing’s Salem location to retrieve his vehicle that had been wrongfully towed, according to Bunch’s attorneys at Paul Krueger Law Firm, noting that Bunch is a decorated war hero with a state-issued, permanently disabled veteran license plate and a handicapped parking placard.

Richard Pinkerton, the operations manager of the Retriever Towing location in Salem, confronted Bunch about parking in the handicapped parking spot.

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After Bunch refused to move his truck from the parking lot, Pinkerton accused him of trespassing. When Pinkerton left the area to get a tow truck, Bunch — a concealed carry permit holder — grabbed a handgun from his vehicle and tucked it into the back of his waistband, Bunch’s attorneys said.

Pinkerton returned to the area, got out of the tow truck and asked Bunch to drop his gun, but after Bunch refused, Pinkerton hit Bunch, grabbed his gun and threw it across the parking lot, according to court documents.

Pinkerton called the police and reported that Bunch was being threatening. At the scene, police handcuffed Bunch and placed him in the back of a police car, where Bunch suffered a panic attack, and because of a fracture in the bones in his face, blood began pouring from his nose, his lawyers said.

Bunch was taken to the emergency department, where he was diagnosed with three fractures of his maxillofacial bone. After the incident, Bunch was left with “extreme PTSD,” his lawyers said.

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While Pinkerton claimed he was defending himself after Bunch pointed a gun at him, video of the incident shows Bunch had his gun tucked into his rear waistband.

After a jury found Pinkerton guilty of fourth-degree assault, Bunch encouraged the judge, “as a veteran on behalf of the other,” not to include jail time in Pinkerton’s sentence and instead require Pinkerton to take anger management courses to follow.

The judge ultimately sentenced Pinkerton to a year and a half of probation, including mandatory anger management courses, along with seven days of house arrest.

Retriever Towing did not immediately respond to KOIN 6 News’ request for comment. This story will be updated if we receive a response.

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