PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A man who says he suffered a broken leg after he refused to stop and show his receipt as he left a Costco Wholesale store in Portland has filed a lawsuit.
The Oregonian reports that Timothy Walls is seeking $670,000. One of Walls' lawyers says the man didn't believe the store had a right to detain him based upon its practice of checking receipts at the door.
Walls' recent Circuit Court lawsuit says he had bought about $100 worth of goods and was leaving the store on Jan. 28, 2013, when an employee grabbed and held onto his shopping cart and told him he couldn't leave. The suit says words were exchanged and when the employee wouldn't let go, Walls grabbed him by the shirt collar and pulled him away from the cart.
The lawsuit says another employee then used "a martial arts-type strike with his leg."
A suburban Portland lawyer representing Costco, Bill Stockton, declined comment. However, he wrote in court papers that Walls' injuries were "the sole and direct result of (his) own conduct, fault, and negligence" because Walls was the one who attacked the employees.
