Family Of Beaten SF Giants Fan Sues LA Dodgers
LOS ANGELES (CBS 5) — The family of beaten San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday in L.A. County Superior Court, claiming inadequate security was partially to blame for the attack.
>> Download A Copy Of The Stow Lawsuit (.pdf)
Stow, 42, a paramedic from Santa Cruz, was brutally beaten in a parking lot of Dodger Stadium on March 31. He was flown to San Francisco General Hospital last week for additional trauma care after more than a month of treatment at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center for brain damage.
The suit filed on behalf of Stow contends the Dodgers were negligent by not providing more security and not having adequate lighting in the parking lot where the attack occurred on Opening Day.
The suit also claims the stadium has more crime than any other Major League Baseball venue and that the Dodgers organization knew the area was unsafe and a haven for known gang members to "meet, plan and carry out criminal activity."
Stow remain listed in critical condition Tuesday. His sister said Monday that he had stopped having seizures but had not regained consciousness, even though he was no longer in a coma.
Attorney Thomas V. Girardi, who is representing the Stow family in the suit, stated that it took 15 minutes for stadium personnel to respond when they were notified of the beating.
KCBS' Chris Filippi Reports:
He said the Dodgers "knew that the decrease in security forces at Dodger Stadium, coupled with the decrease of uniformed officers patrolling the stadium, would lead to increased attacks and criminal activity on their property."
The attorney said several other measures also could have been taken to prevent the attack, including ejection of disorderly fans, refusal to have known criminals or gang members attend games and the promotion of responsible consumption of alcohol.
Stow, who wore Giants gear to the game, was taunted repeatedly and some Dodgers fans threw peanuts, hot dogs and wrappers at him and his friends, according to the lawsuit. It also points out that a half-off beer promotion was scrapped at Dodger games after the Stow beating.
The Stow family was not suing the Dodgers for a specified amount of money, however, the suit stated that it would take $45 to $50 million in medical benefits to give Stow a good quality of life.
The Los Angeles Police Department, which arrested a man Sunday for the attack on Stow, was not named in the lawsuit.
The LAPD has called Giovanni Ramirez, 31, the main aggressor in Stow's attack. They are still seeking a second attacker and a woman suspected of driving the pair from the crime scene.
>> Suspect Arrested In Beating Of Giants Fan
>> Family Of Beaten Giants Fan Expresses Gratitude For Arrest
A spokesman for troubled Dodgers owner Frank McCourt did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment about the suit.
The lawsuit is the latest problem for McCourt, who in recent weeks has seen MLB appoint a monitor to oversee the Dodgers and his ex-wife ask a judge presiding over their divorce trial to order the sale of the team.
Baseball officials also have said they don't believe McCourt has enough money to make payroll at the end of this month.
The attorney for the Stow family claims McCourt has mismanaged one of baseball's most storied franchises by spending lavishly since buying the team in 2004 and reducing security during games -- even though Dodger stadium has been plagued by violence in the past.
A Giants fan was shot and killed in the parking lot in September 2003. Pete Marron was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison for the first-degree murder of Marc Antenorcruz, 25.
In April 2009, a man stabbed his friend in the stadium parking lot after the home opener. Arthur Alvarez was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon. Alvarez, who contended that he was knocked to the ground and acted in self-defense, was later acquitted by a jury.
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