SALEM, Ore. — Salem-based Retriever Towing has been hit with a $1.185 million verdict in a lawsuit brought by a veteran who was assaulted by an employee when he went to the company's tow yard to recover his car. A Multnomah County jury sided with plaintiff Curtis Bunch following a six-day trial, according to his attorneys.
"It was with relief," said Bunch's lawyer, Paul Krueger, of Paul Kreuger Law Firm.
The lawsuit claims that Bunch's SUV was wrongfully towed on July 3, 2020, and he went to the company's facility in person three days later to recover it. His lawyers said he made multiple attempts over the July 4 weekend to get ahold of Retriever Towing, but never made contact. He parked his pickup truck in an accessible parking space at the Salem tow yard, which he was legally allowed to do, according to his attorneys.
"Mr. Bunch has a disabled veteran's license plate, has a disabled parking permit laying on the dash of his vehicle," said Wade Bowyer, an associate attorney at Paul Kreuger Law Firm that helped litigate the case. "He followed the law."
The company's manager of operations, Richard Pinkerton, confronted Bunch about the use of the space, according to the lawsuit. The news release from Bunch's attorneys included two videos of what happened next; one recorded by a security camera and another by what appears to be a body camera that Pinkerton was wearing.
"I think Mr. Pinkerton was wound a little tight," Bowyer said. "He immediately challenges Mr. Bunch's ability to park in the handicap parking spot."
The videos show Pinkerton approaching Bunch, who is standing near his truck outside a security fence with a motorized gate that divides the parking lot in half. Bunch states that he's there for his vehicle. Pinkerton, who is on the inside of the fence, gestures at the accessible parking space and says, "You want to move your vehicle, or are you handicapped?"
The conversation escalates quickly, with Pinkerton stating that Bunch's other vehicle must have been towed because "you can't pay attention to rules." He states that he will move the truck if Bunch doesn't, to which Bunch replies, "You think you can move it?" and Pinkerton replies, "I sure as (expletive) can" and immediately starts walking toward a tow truck parked behind him while saying, "You think you're big enough to stop me, big man?"
While Pinkerton is getting into the tow truck and the automatic fence gate is opening, the surveillance video shows Bunch walking around to the passenger side of his pickup truck and opening the door. He grabs his handgun — his lawyers said he has a conceal carry permit it the state of Oregon — and then places the weapon in the back waistband of his pants.
"He was scared," Bowyer said of Bunch's decision to grab his gun. "He was showing up to get his vehicle. He was immediately met with hostility. He was concerned for his own safety; he was also concerned that if the vehicle was towed, it would have his concealed weapon still within it."
According to the news release, Pinkerton later claimed that he was acting in self-defense because Bunch pulled a gun on him, while Bunch's lawyers contended that the video footage shows he had holstered the gun in his rear waistband and never drew it.
Bunch walks back around to the rear of his truck and leans backward against it, while Pinkerton drives the tow truck through the gate and then backs it up toward the pickup truck. While doing so, he shouts, "Go ahead, pull it out, mine's bigger and I can draw faster, (expletive). Come on. Pull it out. You're not supposed to have weapons on my property."
Pinkerton stops the tow truck a few feet from Bunch's truck and then gets out, walks up and stands right in front of Bunch, who appears to have put his hands in his pockets. Pinkerton states that Bunch is trespassing and must get off the property, adding, "Or do you want me to take the (expletive) gun from you?"
When Bunch doesn't reply, Pinkerton says he's going to count to five, does so very rapidly, and then appears to strike Bunch in the head with both hands as he says the word "five."
Bunch briefly raises his hands and appears to push Pinkerton back, but then lowers them. Pinkerton squares up while shouting, "Come on!" and then appears to throw a punch at Bunch's head. Bunch turns away and begins to walk back around toward the passenger side of his truck.
Pinkerton walks after him while repeatedly yelling, "Drop the (expletive) gun," and appears to reach toward Bunch's rear waistband and then throw something behind him. What appears to be a handgun can be seen and heard clattering across the pavement behind Pinkerton.
Bunch bends over and picks up a set of keys that appear to have fallen to the ground next to the pickup truck, as Pinkerton says, "You want to play with me some more? Let's go." The surveillance video ends there, but Pinkerton's body camera footage continues for about another 15 seconds.
Bunch stands back up and faces Pinkerton, who continues to shout for several seconds, at one point yelling, "23 years in the army. I've killed 21 (expletive) men. You ain't a man. What do you want to do now? You want to move your (expletive) vehicle, or you want to box?"
Bunch replies, "I said I'll move my vehicle," to which Pinkerton replies, "No, you went and got your (expletive) gun" and then says he will call the police, adding "You're not going near your (expletive) gun, or I'll drop you right where you stand."
Bunch walks around to the rear of his truck and says, "Right there, buddy," apparently pointing at the disabled veteran license plate. Pinkerton replies, "I don't (expletive) care, it's not on there," apparently referring to some other location on the vehicle. He then turns and walks back toward the pickup truck cab, and the video ends.
The news release states that when police arrived, Bunch ended up being handcuffed and put in a squad car based on false statements from the manager and company, and Bunch had a panic attack in the car and fractured a bone in his face as a result.
"He had a panic attack, (the police) could see him looking very uneasy," Krueger said. "All of a sudden, in the officer's words, he began bleeding profusely from the nose. What had happened was the bony fracture in his left cheek had caused his sinuses to essentially fill with blood, and the overflow was then gushing out of his nose."
Krueger said the incident reignited Bunch's PTSD symptoms that he had been diagnosed with after an army injury from the 1980s, and damaged his relationship with his wife of nearly 30 years and his daughter.
"He went from what his wife described as the seven best years of their marriage to living in isolation in a fifth-wheel trailer out on the coast," Kreuger said. "He described that the symptoms of PTSD caused him to want to be away from social interaction, including that interaction, with his loved ones."
Pinkerton was criminally charged for the incident and convicted of fourth-degree assault in May 2021. He was sentenced to 18 months' probation and required to complete a 6-month anger management program. KGW talked with Retriever Towing about the judgement and a representative of the company called the incident unfortunate, but also blamed both Pinkerton and Bunch for what happened.
After Pinkerton was convicted, he told Bunch's lawyers in a deposition video, he no longer works for Retriever Towing, saying he left for physical and mental health reasons. The company confirmed Pinkerton no longer works for them.
"It threw me right back into a constant defensive military mode," Pinkerton said in a deposition video to Bunch's lawyers. "That's what I craved as a soldier, and it fed an animal in me. I had to leave. I had to."
The lawsuit was separately filed in June 2022. The jury awarded Bunch $925,000 in noneconomic damages and $260,000 in punitive damages.