On August 1, 2020, at around 1:30 a.m., 9-1-1 received one or more phone calls reporting a physical fight outside the Bodega bar located in downtown Missoula. According to Police Public Information Officer Travis Welsh, several officers with the Missoula Police Department responded and conducted an investigation.

“The complainant reported that one of the males was down and appeared to be unconscious,” Welsh said. “When the officers arrived, they located the man who was down and also were directed to the suspect by witnesses on the scene who reported that he was walking southbound on Ryman Street. An officer made contact with him and identified his as 36-year-old Kurtis Adams.”

An officer said the entire left side of the victim’s face was swollen, causing his eye to be swollen shut. Another officer observed a large amount of blood on and around the victim’s face and head, dripping from his nose and mouth. The officer attempted to place the victim in a recovery position, but the victim began choking on his blood.

To prevent choking, the officer was able to get the victim into a seated position. The officer placed his knee behind the victim’s back and supported his shoulders to keep him upright. According to the officer, the entire back of the victim’s shirt was soaked in blood. He said blood had run down onto the pavement from the victim’s face and head, forming a pool on the pavement.

“The officers learned that there had been a fight between the two in which the victim was knocked to the ground and the suspect continued the assault even though it appeared the victim was unconscious,” Welsh said. “The 23-year-old victim was transported to the hospital in a semi-conscious state where his condition is currently unknown.”

An officer observed that Adams had a black right eye, what appeared to be small cuts around his left eye, blood on his right hand, and a t-shirt on that been torn near the collar.

Adams claimed that the victim got physically aggressive and threw a few punches at him. Adams told the victim to stop but also threw a few punches of his own at the victim. Because the victim kept coming at him, Adams stated he threw the victim over his hip and on to the ground. Once the victim was on the ground, Adams said he punched him a couple more times, and then he began walking away from the area.

Several witnesses believed that Adams knocked the victim unconscious within the first or second punch and that Adams continued to punch the victim while he was on the ground and unconscious. Adams was charged with one count of aggravated assault, which is a felony. His charging documents can be found here.

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