Five people hurt after argument in Gresham parking lot

By KATU News Published: Jan 25, 2013 at 9:59 AM PDT Last Updated: Apr 26, 2013 at 1:16 PM PDT

GRESHAM, Ore. - Five people, including a suspect, were injured in the parking of a Shari's restaurant in Gresham Friday morning and the parents of one victim said they don't think it was an accident.

Two victims, Robbie Polanco and Kennyth Estoy, both 23, were taken to a hospital.

Brad Eason, 30, faces attempted murder, assault and DUII charges, police said.

Barbara Bradford, the mother of Robbie Polanco, said he was in the Emergency Room at a Gresham hospital following the incident.

Polanco's injuries were not specified by police but they said Estoy had a compound fracture to his right leg. He was taken to OHSU for treatment, police said Friday.

Police said two other people, including one man not with the group who was just outside smoking a cigarette also had minor injuries and they were treated and released.

Bradford said Robbie told her he went to the Shari's near 182nd and SE Powell with a group of friends after he got off work nearby and a couple of people in the group began to argue. They got up to leave and the argument escalated in the parking lot, she said.

Bradford said Eason initially got into a car, gunned the engine and drove towards the group that included her son. She said Robbie was hit, bounced off the car's windshield and was thrown into the side of the restaurant.

She said Eason also hit Robbie's car before he stopped. A few of the guys in the group then pulled Eason from his car and beat him up, Bradford said.

But police said Eason got out of the car and attacked one of the men he had just hit and was then subdued by others until officers arrived. Eason had injuries to his face, police said, and was not hospitalized.

Another man in the group, Najee Newman, 21, had minor injuries. Newman's father said he thinks his son was the driver's target after Najee confronted Eason inside the Shari's when he yelled at a girl.

A fight ensued and Eason made threats, Najee's father said. When the group left the restaurant, Eason got in his car to drive away, then made a U-turn and headed for Najee and his friends.

Mike Ryan, who said he was Robbie's Polanco's father, said he got a call from his son at about 4 a.m. and he "sounded really upset," saying he had been hit by a car.

Ryan said the driver apparently smashed into the side of the restaurant after he intentionally tried to hit the group in the parking lot.

He said his son was possibly injured and talking with police. "He’s a level headed guy," Ryan said of his son.  "He's not one of those hotheads that tries to beat people up or something."

Bradford said Robbie lost consciousness but was not seriously injured. He was in shock from the incident, his head hurts and he has stiffness in some parts of his body, she said.

Bradford said a friend of Polanco said the person who drove into the group was invited but it was the first time he had spent time with the group.

She said Eason was invited by one of the women in the group and that she now feels guilty about the incident.