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'They're pulling guns on people'

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By ELAINE SILVESTRINI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 23, 2012

TAMPA - Glen "Chuck" Rich was clearly upset when he called 911.

Someone "towed my car for no reason," he said. "I want my car right now. … One of them pulled a gun on me. … Please, I want my car. … They're pulling guns on people."

These would be among Rich's final words. In the early morning Jan. 8, 2006, Rich was shot and killed by the owner of a tow company as Rich tried to drive off in the Chrysler Sebring that was registered in his wife's name.

The 911 recording was played Wednesday for jurors in the murder trial of tow company owner Donald Montanez, who claims he shot and killed Rich in self-defense because Rich was driving the car directly at him and two employees that morning.

The defense says it plans to have an expert dissect the 911 recording in detail. But on Wednesday, the prosecution played the recording uninterrupted while Rich's wife sat in the courtroom holding back tears.

"They're towing everybody's cars to make some money," Rich said. "I want my car right now."

Rich's brothers, Celester and Ernest, and friend James Murray testified Wednesday about coming out of the Sugar Shack strip club that night to find that their and others' cars had been towed.

The group began looking for their vehicles. A couple pulled up in a Chrysler and told them the cars were being taken to a nearby lot — not a tow impound yard. The couple took them to the site, where they encountered Montanez' employees in tow trucks.

"We started walking in the direction of the trucks," Celester Rich said. "A few — I don't exactly remember how many — individuals got out of these tow trucks here and they had items in their hands. They could have been night sticks. They could have been Maglights. … They were telling us to get the f--- out of here. 'You don't know where the f--- you're going.' "

"It was just a standoff," Celester Rich said. Others from the nightclub started forming a crowd. They, too, were looking for their cars. Montanez pulled up in a tow truck.

"All I remember about that part was a red beam being waved around," Celester Rich said. The prosecution said this was the laser site from Montanez' gun. Rich said he said something like, "This isn't an impound lot. You guys are illegally storing vehicles."

Murray testified that Montanez pointed the red beam at him.

Ernest Rich said he initially thought the red beam was from a stun gun. Montanez, he said, trained the light on his brother Chuck and told him to stop.

Ernest Rich said Montanez turned the light toward him "up to my eyeballs. I'm like, 'Chill. Chill.' That's when I realized it wasn't a Taser. I knew it was a gun."

Celester Rich said he walked toward the Sebring, followed by his brother. Rich said he tussled with a tow employee who tried to attach a disabling device to the car.

Murray said that as Glen Rich went toward his car, Montanez was pointing the gun at him. "I was screaming. I was like, 'Chuck! Chuck!' "

The laser, he said, lit his friend's back.

Celester Rich said he yelled for his brother to drive off in the car. The tow employee tried to jump on the hood but hit the passenger side of the car and bounced off.

"He made the car go backwards to get out of the path of the truck that was in front of him, but then he peeled off ahead of him," Celester Rich said. He heard tires screeching and the pop from the disabling device. "I just spun around and got out of the way… And I heard the shot."

"After the shot was fired, everything for me anyway kind of just stopped," Celester Rich continued. "And then I turned around and I saw that beam again."

Montanez, he said, was pointing a gun at him.

"He had it on me the entire time I was walking away from the incident," Celester Rich said, "on my head." Montanez, Rich testified, said, "Where are you going now? Ha, ha. Your buddy's in trouble now."

esilvestrini@tampatrib.com (813) 259-7837

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