Giants and Dodgers fans set aside rivalry after attack, drop off donations

A slow, but steady stream of drivers made their way to Dodger Stadium on Monday as part of a drive-thru fundraiser for Bryan Stow, the Giants fan who was severely beaten in a stadium parking lot on opening day.

Santa Monica resident Victoria Caldwell, 40, a bookkeeper for an entertainment accounting firm, said she saw news of the fund drive on morning television and came down with her miniature pinscher, Minnie.

A Dodger fan since childhood, she said she was shocked by the violence but believed it was important "to stick together and show our commitment" by helping with Stow's healthcare costs. She said she believed the March 31 attack was an isolated incident.

Stow, wearing Giants apparel, was in the stadium parking lot after the game when two young men began taunting him. According to police, one of the men blindsided him with blows to the back and head. Both men repeatedly kicked and punched Stow on the ground before fleeing in a car driven by a woman. Police said it appeared a 10-year-old boy was also in the car.

Stow suffered a fractured skull and damage to his frontal lobe. He remained in critical condition Monday in a medically induced coma at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center. He is undergoing further testing, but no improvement has been reported since his admission, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Brothers Matt and Noah Glazer bicycled in from their home in Highland Park with a check. Noah, 27, a production assistant, tugging on the brim of his Lakers cap, said he worried that a police crackdown with uncertain standards in the wake of the Stow beating would squelch the normal fun-loving rivalry between the two California National League teams.

"I have a lot of friends in the Bay Area. I go to games in San Francisco and heckling is part of the game," Noah Glazer said. "That doesn't mean I'm going to stab someone in the parking lot."

At the same time he said he hoped that participating in the benefit would help stop the violence from escalating to the point where security would become overwhelming. "Hopefully some goodwill comes of it and some of the fringe element learns regular fans aren't going to tolerate it," he said.

Patrick Odell, 38, of West Los Angeles, a "die-hard Dodgers fan" arrived in his Dodgers' Hawaiian shirt. "Hearing what happened just killed me," the paralegal at a downtown law firm said. "I don't think that's what Dodger fans are about. "

Already, he said his friends were saying there's no way they'd bring their kids to Dodger Stadium, which he said he believed was wrongheaded. He came with a check to show "it wasn't real baseball fans who were responsible. It was people who came apparently for no reason but to savagely attack someone."

Andrea Murphy, 33, a Giants fan, said her heart went out to Stow, his family and fellow Giants fans.

Murphy, an aspiring real estate agent from Modesto now living in Santa Monica, she said she had attended Dodgers games in Giants regalia, most recently a preseason game where she wore a black  Giants shirt, with no trepidation. But she worried the Stow beating would make the rivalry turn ugly.

"Let's hopefully never let this happen again," she said. "It's so sad that something like this would happen at a baseball game of all places."

Giants and Dodgers players also planned Monday night to take part in a pregame ceremony when the teams face off again at AT&T Park in San Francisco. The ceremony will honor Stow and "encourage civility in the rivalry," Dodgers spokesman Josh Rawitch said.

The money collected Monday will go to a trust fund established by Stow's mother at the San Francisco Police Credit Union, and will benefit him and his two children.

The drive was scheduled to end at 3 p.m. Checks should be made out to the "Bryan Stow Fund."

RELATED:

Drivers line up at Dodger Stadium to drop off money for beating victim Bryan Stow

-- Gale Holland at Dodger Stadium

Photo: Dino Leasure, with Kodi, chats with paramedics after driving into Dodger Stadium on Monday afternoon to drop off a donation, one of many drivers who contributed cash and checks for a relief fund for paramedic Bryan Stow, the Giants fan who was severely beaten on opening day. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Louie]

Only in L.A.

[Tim Rhianna]

HOW MUCH THE MCCOURTS GIVE?????? Really, thats what I thought the cheap bastards.

[Joe Poe]

Stev Lopez wrote a column the other day entitled "Who's To Balme For the Problems at Dodger Stadium?" Steve pontificated...he huffed...he puffed....he blamed McCourt. I repeated his question "Who's To Balme For the Problems at Dodger Stadium?" and the I had the answer -- the same answer to the following questions: "Who's To Balme For the Problems in Pacoima?" and "Who's To Blame For the Problems in City Terrace? Atwater Village?" and "Who's To Blame For the Problems in Panorama City? In Santa Ana?" Let's be honest.

Steve Lopez, ask a cop or a law-abiding, frightened resident of any of the above-listed neighborhoods -- "Who's to blame?" The answer is always the same and it's not Frank McCourt -- Los Angeles has a far more isidious problem than Frank McCourt.

[Scott]

Never thought I'd say it, but classy move by Dodgers fans. As a Giants fan, I'm impressed by the response of the true LA fans to this tragedy. Hopefully some good can come out of this senseless act of violence.

[times reader]

Put a phone number on the sign inside the stadium so people can call to report the crazy behavior and the police can come directly to the seats of the trouble makers.

[Tony]

I can see it now...McCourt counting the donations...one for me, one for you...two for me...one for you...three for me...one for you...

[Diogenes]

Flood the cheap seats with undercover LAPD in Giants gear.

[Jesse Zamarripa]

frank mccourt should have paid for everything regardless. it shouldnt have to come from the fan but i does. go dodger blue

[Old Venturan]

Pretty clever of Frank McCourt to try to minimize his damages in the suit for negligence that the relatives of Bryan Stow are sure to bring. Well, I guess he didn't get his money by being slow.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my client did everything he could to help this poor victim. (Except provide adequate security and continue to sell unregulated alcohol and fail to enforce the tailgate ban in the parking lot where "fans" get blitzed before they even get inside the stadium.)
Why he even held a fund raiser in the stadium parking lot to help raise money for this poor victim (And off set the damages that I know you are going to award.)

[ohhhh no]

So sad... its great to hear people comming out to support

[Lee B.]

As a Giants fan relocated to LA, I'm deeply moved and relieved by this classy show of support from Dodgers fans.

[Tommy]

Excellent idea by Times reader...Hopefully someone will see it and use this wonderful and brilliant idea....Yeah, I am all for it...get those numbers listed and report all bad people ASAP.

[Lee]

The thugs did evil, but the citizens who watched and did nothing are a more serious evil. Thugs come and go. Citizens who come to games and continue to go to games and watch the violence, a citizen being beaten and do nothing. No cell phone calls to police, no 911 calls. Was only one person moved to call about the "get-away" car driven by a woman driver and a ten year old boy. Color of car, make model year of car? " Evil thrives when innocent bystanders do nothing"
We are all to blame. Shame on us.

[Illegally Undocumented]

McCourt and the Dodgers, Giants team members should foot all his medical bills...the better and right thing to do.

[James Banks]

It's sad that baseball has come to this. At least in this part of the country. The hottest baseball or sport rivalry just concluded it's first installment this past weekend(Yankees vs Red Sux) and not a single bad incident like what happened in opening day happened. I'm sure some "little" incidents happened but I'm pretty sure no one's head got pummeled to a point where someone had to go to the hospital. You are right Louie. Only in L.A.

[Mark]

This a what Los Angeles and Dodger fans are really all about. Citizens coming to the aid of their fellow man.
As for posting a number on the message board at the stadium during games, this was implemented by then V.P. of Security Ray Maytorena.
You could text the number provided with issues, seat/row number and other critical details of the activity being witnessed.
These text messages were constantly monitored and responded to.

[Bill]

Why are people donating things? Shouldnt the Dodgers and MLB baseball be paying all of the out of pocket medical costs and help the families?

[Ramon]

Thankfully, they already do display a number to call or text during the games if someone is impeding your enjoyment of the game.

[LA reader 2011]

Post a reward for information that would lead to the arrest of these scumbags and I'm sure the police will get more leads to find them and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law. Those chicken scumbags beat an innocent man almost to the point of death and now they're hiding. They're family are also scumbags for not reporting them. The whole family should be arrested for harboring them.

[Erin]

Hey Louie - I live in Atwater Village. I'm not frightened. At all.

This is an isolated incident perpetrated by 2 losers. Having been to hundreds of hockey games at Staples where beer flows and healthy rivalry is more than vocalized, this is clearly the doing of two punks. Not two Dodger fans and most certainly not 2 fans of sport.

Who's to blame? The two losers who did this and the woman who allowed them in her car and helped them escape all while teaching a 10 year old how to behave like an animal. More security won't stop stupid people from being stupid.

[Lolly Hellman]

I am a long-time Dodger fan, and we support all teams, no matter what city or country they are from. We, as Dodger fans, should never allow this to happen again. It shouldn't take a Battalion of cops to stop the fighting in the parking lot, we, as fans, should have stopped the fight and protected the Giants' fan and his friends. We are just as responsible as the hoodlums who hurt him.

[GUEST]

I agree with Joe Poe.

[Ome-Coatl]

The chickens came home to roost on this one. After years of sports radio and fans screaming, "I hate the Dodgers/Giants", now everyone wants to have a love-fest.

[ali]

@times reader: they DO have a phone number inside the stadium. And while i have not used the number, I have walked up to security to tell them about a disruptive fan, and they ALWAYS react quickly.

What about all the supposed bystanders who saw or heard the violence? Remember, the best way to get people's attention in case of any emergency is to yell "FIRE".

Maybe Dodger stadium should install those "blue light" emergency systems throughout the parking lot. Disneyland has them. College campuses have them. Seems like a good response to this sad, sad situation.

[Jeff]

I think it is too little, too late. Giants fans have been getting harassed forever at this place, with fights breaking out every week or weekend they are in town. It takes an intensive care visit to pay attention? As a Giants fan living in LA, I attend every series when they are in town, and I have to say there is zero security in the dark parking lots when leaving games. I am not one to taunt, or talk trash, therefore I come out clean. Unfortunately the majority of attendees at dodger games are not real baseball fans, and are there to support their "colors" and LA symbol. Its about affiliation, not baseball. This will sum it up; a few years back they were giving away posters, and I was on the second level, and dodger "fans" were folding their posters into paper airplanes. These airplanes, thick stock paper, very sharp tips, were being thrown off the second level and watching them fly into their own fans down below. And then there are the silly beach balls. Get a clue Dodger fans.