Family Of Daniel Luna, SoFi Stadium Attack Victim, Releases Statement
INGLEWOOD (CBSLA) — The family of Daniel Luna, the man who was attacked at SoFi Stadium on Sunday, as the NFC Championship Game took place, has issued a statement on the condition of their loved one.
Luna, 40-years-old, suffered severe injuries from the incident, when he fell backwards and hit his head. He has been in a medically induced coma since. He is a native of Oakland, and was in town to watch the 49ers take on the Rams for a Super Bowl berth.
Video of the incident shows Luna pushing the suspect, now identified as Bryan Cifuentes, from behind. In turn, Cifuentes pushed Luna from behind before he struck Luna in the mouth. Luna fell and hit his head on the pavement, where first responders found him a while later.
Cifuentes was arrested on Thursday after investigators were able to locate the suspect. He was released on $30,000 bail later that same day.
Luna's family released a statement in response to the tragic incident,
"Our loved one Daniel Luna remains in a coma in intensive care after the violent attack he suffered at SoFi Stadium prior to the NFL Conference Championship game between the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams. We pray for him.
We want to thank the paramedics who found him and the doctors, nurses and staff at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center for taking care of Daniel at this challenging and difficult time.
The physicians performed a hemicraniectomy on the right side of Daniel's head to relieve internal pressure on Friday. We know he has a long road ahead of him.
Right now, we are focused on Daniel's care and getting through this traumatic and horribly difficult time. We want to make sure these NFL events are safe and secure for everyone and that all parties responsible for this tragic and violent attack will be held accountable so that something like this never happens again.
We also want to thank police and law enforcement officials for continuing their investigation to ensure justice is served.
If anyone has any information, photos, video, or details of any kind, we urge them to reach out to the Inglewood Police Department Det. Will Salmon 310-412-5115. His email is: wsalmon@cityofinglewood.org. We have retained the services of a well-regarded attorney Jonathan E. Davis of the Arns Law Firm to assist Daniel and our family in seeking justice."
He was supposed to attend the game with a group of colleagues, but ended up going alone as their plans were canceled for various reasons. Luna is a chef and the owner of an Oakland restaurant called Mistura.
The family is pleading with anyone who may have witnessed the incident to contact authorities and assist in their ongoing investigation. They also want to make sure that no one else has to go through what they've had to over recent days.
They have been by his bedside at Harbor+UCLA Medical Center since the incident occurred.
CBS reporters spoke with the family's lawyer, Jonathan Davis, who wanted to make sure that no conclusions were being prematurely drawn.
"Anyone who's characterizing the incident or drawing conclusions at this point, it's premature and I think it's counterproductive," he said.
While he didn't name any names, one prominent public figure in Inglewood Mayor James Butts spoke at a press conference in regards to the incident, where he presumptively declared that, "The reality is this was a one punch, one shove, two shove, one punch altercation. The greatest damage was done because he landed on the back of his head on the pavement."
Davis doesn't believe that this tells the whole story, especially based on Luna's character, which has been maintained by friends and frequenters at Luna's restaurant, who consider the man to be well-liked and respected.
He thinks there's much more to the incident than the public has been made aware of, especially since SoFi Stadium is such an advanced arena with up-to-date technology, "there's no question hours of video," exist with footage of the incident "from a myriad of angles. This is a sophisticated environment," he continued.
Authorities were able to locate the suspect in the incident using that video footage, and Davis believes this can be also be used to the investigators benefit, in order to make a more thorough picture of the events that led up to the altercation.
"We know that SoFi will be preserving all that video tape so that the full picture can be examined and we can really understand, not just the snapshot at that moment, but what happened before, that created the environment for this tragic incident to occur," Davis said.
Both the Luna family and Davis are concerned as to why authorities weren't called sooner, especially with the bustling atmosphere at SoFi Stadium.
"It's a very large question the family wants answered," Davis said.
He also noted that they don't want this just for their own peace of mind, but to make sure that steps are taken to prevent repeat occurrences at the NFL's newest stadium
"I know everyone wants an answer to it ,because we need to keep these environments safe and secure for everyone to come to enjoy. The Super Bowl is coming, and I think that folks want to make sure they can be there with confidence that they will be in a secure, safe environment so they can enjoy the game."
Mayor Butts has continued to maintain that the security in place at SoFi Stadium is readily capable of handling the Super Bowl, and the more than 100,000 people who are expected to head into Los Angeles in coming days.