Volunteer Beaten at Oregon Women’s Shelter Seeks $675K

A volunteer seeks $675,000 in a lawsuit against the Gospel Rescue Mission of Grants Pass, Ore., alleging it failed to protect her from an enraged man whose wife and daughter were at a women’s shelter.

The lawsuit and a police report from the 2013 incident say Toni Sue Burrows was pepper sprayed and beaten by Matt Cortez. A grand jury indicted Cortez on assault and other charges, and a warrant is out for his arrest.

The lawsuit filed in mid-November says the mission lacked adequate security and ignored Burrows’ request to establish a locking-of-doors procedure. It also contends a man should have been the one to tell Cortez he couldn’t enter the shelter to see his wife.

Burrows seeks $175,000 for current and future medical bills, and up to $500,000 in non-economic damages.

Mission director Ken Amelio didn’t immediately return a call for comment.