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Friends wonder why man fatally shot over towing

The slain man lived and worked at an apartment complex that has had disputes with the towing company.

By KEVIN GRAHAM
Published January 10, 2006

TAMPA - Friends of Glen Rich's said he was quicker to tell a joke than to throw a punch.

They spent Monday trying to figure out what could have happened early Sunday, when deputies said a tow truck driver pulled out a gun during a confrontation and fatally shot Rich, 30.

Donald Montanez, 44, owner of PPCI Inc. towing company at 11709 N 12th St., has not been charged in the shooting. The State Attorney's Office said Monday evening that it had yet to review the case and decide whether to file any charges.

Jay Hebert, Montanez's attorney, said that the tow truck driver pulled the trigger to protect himself.

"The shooting was justifiable," Hebert said. "He was acting under self-defense. He was acting with no choice but to defend himself."

Maria Ocasio said she doubts that Rich was the one who caused the confrontation to turn deadly. She is the property manager at the Asbury at University Village off E 131st Avenue, where Rich, whom people knew as "Chuck," lived with his wife and worked as a maintenance tech.

Rich "was more of a lean-back kind of person," she said. "He would have said something to you, but it would have been in a lean-back kind of way."

Rich's wife, Adama, told WFTS-Ch. 28 news that her husband called her after he was shot to say he loved her.

"I'm so sorry, but I'm going to die," she said he told her.

J.D. Callaway, Hillsborough sheriff's spokesman, said that Rich left the Sugar Shack after-hours club off Hillsborough Avenue about 5:30 a.m. Sunday when he came upon Montanez and began arguing. Montanez had already moved Rich's vehicle to Bonacker Drive, Callaway said. Rich, his brother and another man whose name the Sheriff's Office won't release were together when the shooting took place.

Callaway wouldn't give many details about what took place but said that Rich was behind the wheel when Montanez pulled the trigger. Montanez fired once from a .40-caliber pistol, hitting Rich in the chest. Rich died less than 12 hours later at St. Joseph's Hospital.

Ocasio said her apartment complex has had "confrontations" with Montanez's towing company in the past. She said as recently as a week ago, she threatened to have it given a trespass warning for Asbury's property.

The company had a contract with previous property owners that Ocasi o said the new owners don't recognize. But the tow trucks keep coming, she said, and towed the vehicles of 28 residents on New Year's Eve.

"They have taught everybody who works for them to be confrontational," Ocasio said.

Montanez's attorney said that Montanez was only doing his job Sunday morning before the shooting. It was Rich, he said, who escalated the situation.

"The gentleman confronted (Montanez), threatened him," Hebert said.

Ocasio said she shared tears with residents on Monday as they shared stories about Rich and remembered his joking nature.

Joycelyn Maynard lived next door to him. Whenever she needed something fixed, she didn't bother calling the front office. She just knocked on his door.

"He always had my special drink for me when I got home from work," Maynard said. "The apartment complex won't be the same without him."

--Times researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this story. Kevin Graham can be reached at 813 226-3433 or kgraham@sptimes.com

[Last modified January 10, 2006, 01:51:15]