A man awarded more than $1 million after assaulting a Retriever Tug employee in 2020

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A jury has awarded a man more than $1.185 million after he was attacked in tow by a Retriever Towing employee in 2020, which his lawyers say left the man with facial fractures and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The attack occurred on July 3, 2020, when Curtis Bunch parked in a handicapped parking space at Retriever Towing’s Salem headquarters to pick up his vehicle that had been wrongfully towed, according to Bunch’s lawyers at the law firm of Paul Krueger Paul Krueger, noting that Bunch is a decorated war hero with a state-issued permanent disabled veteran license plate and a disabled parking placard.

Richard Pinkerton, operations manager at Retriever Towing’s Salem location, spoke to Bunch about parking in a handicapped parking space.

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After Bunch refused to remove his truck from the parking lot, Pinkerton charged him with trespassing. As Pinkerton left the premises to call a tow truck, Bunch – a concealed permit holder – removed a handgun from his vehicle and put it in his waistband, Bunch’s lawyers said.

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

Pinkerton called the police and reported that Bunch was making threats. At the scene, police handcuffed Bunch and placed him in the backseat of a police car, where Bunch suffered a panic attack and his nose began leaking blood because of a broken facial bone, his lawyers said.

Bunch was taken to the emergency room where he was diagnosed with three maxillofacial fractures. After the incident, Bunch suffered from “extreme post-traumatic stress disorder,” his lawyers said.

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While Pinkerton claimed he was defending himself after Bunch pointed the gun at him, video of the incident shows Bunch was holding the gun by the waistband on his back.

After the jury found Pinkerton guilty of fourth-degree assault, Bunch encouraged the judge, “as a veteran on behalf of another,” not to count prison time into Pinkerton’s sentence and instead require Pinkerton to take anger management classes.

The judge sentenced Pinkerton to 1.5 years of probation, which includes required anger management courses, and 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 hear back.

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