Bend man dismayed by no charges against officer

An alcohol-fueled downtown Bend fight late last month in which a visiting California police officer pulled his gun was “deplorable,” but neither Vallejo Sgt. Michael Tribble nor retired Vellejo officer Kevin Coehlo “committed a prosecutable offense” that night, Deschutes County District Attorney Patrick Flaherty told NewsChannel 21 Friday after reviewing police reports.

Later Friday, one of the local residents involved in the dispute — who was left unconscious by a retired officer’s use of a “sleeper hold” — said it didn’t happen as the prosecutor outlined and he believed charges should have been filed.

Controversy erupted after cellphone video taken during the altercation early Sunday, Sept. 29, showed Tribble with a gun and confronting others in a crowd.

However, no shots were fired and no serious injuries occurred, police said the next day as they released initial details and said they were still sorting out “contradictory and/or conflicting statements” among the participants and witnesses.

Police were called out shortly after midnight to a reported weapons offense near US Bank on Wall Street, Lt. Nick Parker said at the time. A dispute allegedly began inside the nearby Summit Saloon and Stage involving five men, two of whom left the bar first. The other three left later and encountered the first pair near the bank.

Police confirmed that “Tribble displayed a handgun” and that “intoxicants were involved” in the altercation.

But Flaherty told NewsChannel 21 Friday that “without question, every participant and (perceptive) witness to this event was highly intoxicated” – and said it calls into question “how so many individuals were over-served to such a degree.”

Witness Dustin Pomeroy later told NewsChannel 21 Tribble had pointed a gun at him as he and a group of friends were downtown celebrating a birthday. He said there was a scuffle at the Summit, and they left to go to another bar.

Later, when they encountered Tribble again, a fight began. Pomeroy said his friend, Stuart Epps of Bend, was knocked out.

“The last thing I remember before it fades to black is a gun at the end of my nose,” Epps said Friday evening, adding, “I believe charges should have been filed. There was no reason to pull a gun.”

Pomeroy said shortly after the incident that the officer pointed the gun at him, “finger on the trigger,” when he stepped in to try to calm Tribble down.

But Flaherty said the police report painted a fuller, different sequence of events, and that “Mr. Tribble was justified in striking Mr. Epps because Mr. Epps clearly demonstrated his intent to assault Mr. Tribble by rapidly approaching him while removing his jacket and false teeth.”

Epps said that’s not true.

“I’ve never assaulted, or wanted to assault anybody in my life,” Epps said. He also noted that his false teeth, which he got after a skiing accident, fell out after he was punched.

The DA said “Coehlo applied a carotid artery restraint (sleeper hold) on Stuart Epps because he reasonably believed it was necessary to defend” Tribble – and said Epps had “taken Mr. Tribble to the ground and was striking him repeatedly about the face and head.”

Epps called that a complete fabrication, and said he never assaulted or even threatened Tribble.

“Mr Tribble was the clear aggressor. He was a bully,” Epps said.

Epps also said, Bend police took pictures of his hands, which did not have cuts or bruises, which he said supports his .

As Tribble got back to his feet, Flaherty said he saw “several people rushing toward him and believed that he was about to be attacked again.” And based on the sequence of events, including the earlier confrontation, Flaherty concluded that “Tribble’s belief was reasonable and his act of pointing a firearm at the approaching group and telling them to stay back was not unlawful.”

Flaherty noted that someone is justified to use physical force, or threaten to do so, “in self-defense or to defend a third person … and the person may use a degree of force which the person reasonably believes to be necessary for the purpose.”

Federal law allows any qualified or retired officers to carry a concealed weapon and off-duty officers can carry a concealed weapon into a bar, though they are not allowed to be under the influence of alcohol.

Epps said Friday, “I definitely don’t feel like it’s right for police officers to bully and menace,”

NewsChannel 21 on Friday contacted the DA’s office, Bend PD and the Vallejo Police Department for more comments or access to the police reports, but did not hear back from them.

Here is the full statement Flaherty e-mailed to NewsChannel 21.

“I have reviewed the extensive and thorough investigation conducted by Bend Police Department and discussed the investigation with the lead detective.

“While the circumstances giving rise to this unfortunate event should not have occurred, neither Kevin Coehlo nor Michael Tribble committed a prosecutable offense.

“Thankfully, this case does not involve serious physical injury or death and you should be able to obtain the police reports in the near future. For these reasons I am not going to set forth the facts in detail.

“A person is justified in using physical force or threatening to use deadly physical force upon another person in self-defense or to defend a third person from what the person reasonably believes to be the use or imminent use of unlawful physical force, and the person may use a degree of force which the person reasonably believes to be necessary for the purpose.

“Mr. Tribble was justified in striking Mr. Epps because Mr. Epps clearly demonstrated his intent to assault Mr. Tribble by rapidly approaching him while removing his jacket and false teeth.

“Mr. Coehlo applied a carotid artery restraint (sleeper hold) on Stuart Epps because he reasonably believed it was necessary to defend Mr. Tribble from Mr. Epps, who had taken Mr. Tribble to the ground and was striking him repeatedly about the face and head.

“As he was getting back to his feet, Mr. Tribble observed several people rushing toward him and believed that he was about to be attacked again.

“Under all of the circumstances, which included a confrontation earlier that evening with associates of Mr. Epp and which led to Mr. Epp’s associates being ‘bounced’ from the drinking establishment, Mr. Tribble’s belief was reasonable and his act of pointing a firearm at the approaching group and telling them to stay back was not unlawful.

“That said, the circumstances giving rise to this event are deplorable. No one, whether they are lawfully permitted to do so or not, should carry a firearm or other deadly weapon when they are going out for a ‘night on the town,’ which is clearly what Mr. Tribble and associates were engaged in here.

“Mr. Tribble and Mr. Coehlo were both ‘drunk’ as that term is commonly understood. In fact, without question, every participant and percipient witness to this event was highly intoxicated. Mr. Epps was so drunk he could not even identify Mr. Tribble as the man who displayed the gun.

“Some question with good reason how so many individuals were over-served to such a degree,” Flaherty concluded.

Vallejo Police Chief Joseph Kreins told TV station KTVU on Oct. 1 that his department was conducting its own investigation into the incident, which could take months, and he had spoken with Bend Police Chief Jim Porter about it.