Giants fan beaten at Dodger Stadium in coma, identified as paramedic

The Giants fan who was severely beaten at the end of the Dodgers home opener Thursday is a Santa Cruz paramedic and the father of two children.

Bryan Stow, 42, hit his head on the pavement during the attack and is in a medically induced coma, family members told the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

"He's not doing too well," brother-in-law David Collins told the paper. "He's still unconscious and they just decided to put him in a medically induced coma. They are hoping the brain swelling will go down, but it hasn't and they are talking about removing one of his frontal lobes."

The Los Angeles Police Department released sketches of two suspects in the attack.

"The man suffered a serious head injury during the assault after the game,'' said LAPD Sgt. Sanford Rosenberg, watch commander at the Northeast Station.

Rosenberg said the victim was one of three Giants fans who were attacked in the parking lot by the two unidentified men wearing Dodgers clothing. The unprovoked attack occurred about 8:30 p.m. in Parking Lot 2 when two assailants approached three victims in Giants apparel.

The two men attacked the three victims, kicking and punching them and shouting expletives about the Giants as they delivered the blows, Rosenberg said.

The incident was witnessed by several fans, he said. The assailants fled as people tried to assist the injured man, he said. Police said the incident was captured on a security camera video and witnesses have provided details about the assailants, including a distinctive tattoo.

A Dodgers spokesman said the team is taking the incident seriously.

"It is extremely unfortunate that this incident took place on what was otherwise a great day at Dodger Stadium for tens of thousands of fans. We're committed to having the most fan- and family-friendly environment in baseball and will continue to make that a top priority," said Josh Rawitch, the Dodgers' vice president of communications. "We are cooperating fully with authorities during their investigation and we wish this fan a speedy recovery."

-- Richard Winton and Shelby Grad

 

Images: Sketches of two suspects being sought in the Dodger Stadium attack. Credit: Los Angeles Police Department

 

Comments

[Azmi Ramzi]

As a Los Angeles Dodgers Fan I condemn this attack! Hopefully the Police find and arrest the perptrators of this attack!! These are not real Los Angeles Dodgers fans!!!

[Travis Y]

We all knew the ethnicity of the suspects so skip that. Real Dodger fans should get their info and pay them multiple visits so their families can pay for this too. The Dodgers have stunk up L.A. for too long. Ship them out. Baseball won't be american in 3-5 years anyway. I'll wait.

[Tired Dodgers Fan]

This is the trash we need to purge from Dodger Stadium. And it's not how you look but your actions, this is the norm with whack jobs that have prison mentality.

[Alijill]

Doesn't sound like he's going to completly recover. Very sad!

[Mrjd]

This is outrageous. I'm not a SF Giants fan by any stretch of the imagination but these two guys are not Dodger fans, they are criminals and should be in jail. There's no justification for what they did. I hope they're caught, given a fair trial and sent to Pelican Bay!

[H]

I'm a hardcore Dodger fan and these idiots cheapen great history of our ball park. It's the hispanic gang or thug element that has been making the stadium a dangerous place. This is not condemning the hispanic race. They are hard working, family oriented, and part of LA.

It's the scum that are the latino gang and thug element that need to be removed. Dodger stadium unfortunately is in an area that counts as a playground for these idiots.

My hope we find these two individuals and let them rot in prison for life.

[Martin]

why don't the dodgers put up a reward for these people. it seems they should at least try to make this right. I know they didn't do it, but an example needs to be made out of these two idiots.

I'll be $50,000 bucks would turn help peoples memory on.

[MK]

Twenty dollars for parking and absolutely no security presence in the parking lots after games. Almost everyone I know who've attended Dodgers games have scary post game parking lot stories - particularly after night games. While I know this sort of thing takes place at stadiums in other cities, it seems Chavez Ravine always attracts a higher than usual number of hoodlums and knuckle-heads. It's just not worth the hassle and expense except to attend the occasional day game.

[Matt]

I'm a Giants fan and was planning on bringing my wife and kids to a couple games in LA and SD this year, I live in Vegas. This is extremely disturbing and sad! I will probably still go to SD, but won't go to a dodgers game again. I can see this happening, dodger stadium parking can be hectic and out of control! The environment can also be rough especially to opposing fans.

[don]

We're committed to having the most fan- and family-friendly environment in baseball and will continue to make that a top priority," said Josh Rawitch, the Dodgers' vice president of communications. "

josh: you are liar, a very bad liar.

[Louis]

Apparently it's the paramedic's fault for being in a coma since "he hit his head on the pavement." How about the man is in serious condition because of a head injury sustained at the hands of two murderous L.A. thugs. Who reading this is not absolutely sick and tired of the endless violence perpetrated by mindless idiots such as these gangsters. Yet, not one of us is brave enough to do anything about it apparently. How do these two get away in a Dodger Stadium parking lot after committing such an act. Did I read that "only" 72 people were arrested at the game? And then the audacity of a Dodger press release touting a "family-friendly" experience. Please. Gang bangers and beer, colors and turf, fatherless man/boys full of hate and rage. Sounds like the perfect setting for a family outing. Think I'll pack the family and a picnic and head there now, maybe tonight only 50 people will be arrested and we will celebrate a "better fan experience" together.

[Tony]

"Fan friendly" That is a joke. Dodger Stadium has been in decline for years. Too bad. It used to be fun to go to Dodger games. But with Raider Nation having moved in I've moved out. Haven't been to a game in a couple of years. I still listen to Vin, Charlie, & Rick and follow the team. But the Dodgers won't be seeing my money being spent at their park. I've been to several Angel games and to be fair they have had their incidents but the over all fans are a lot classier. I am not sure what the answer would be but I hope the Dodger organization figures it out. I think inadvertently, they are creating Angel fans as families who want a "family friendly" atmosphere to watch professional baseball will drive south down the 5.

[SmartAssProducts.com]

When I--as a proud, loud, lifetime Lakers fan--lived in Dallas, I was afraid of wearing Lakers gear out in public, but I did it anyway. Those pathetic Mavs fans hated that the Lakers have owned them, forever, and did not take well to my Lakers flags, shirts, bumper stickers, and so on. But I made it out unscathed and am now back home in SoCal. :)

I hope the victim of this senseless, stupid crime pulls through unscathed and that his attackers are found and brought to justice.

[My Truth Hurts]

Good god, it's a baseball game. I hope those thugs are found and put away for a long time. There is no place in decent society for such behavior. What animals.

[Zonker]

One of several reasons I never take my family to Dodger Stadium any more. It used to be safe and wonderfu fun, even sitting up in the nosebleed section; however, since they've become the "Doyers," there's a real Raiders-esque thug element associated with the whole team. McCourt should throw some major resources at his stadium security if he wants to attract family fans again. Oh wait, he can't afford that with that divorce thing. Walter O'Malley is rolling over in his grave.

[evaready]

Dodger's fans are thugs. We were out in LA to see the Cubs play them one year, not only were they rude an aggressive, they were down right menacing and frightening. Never experienced anything like this before. All you LA Dodger's fans should come to the "friendly confines" and learn a thing about baseball manners.

Sorry, for the person that was beaten...hoping he has a speedy recovery.

[Jim Houghton]

Dodgers fans should all buy Giants hats and wear them to the next game, just to show those creeps what we think of them. And BTW, what use are those pictures? They look just like every shaved-head punk-arse gangbanger in Los Angeles.

[Michelle]

Where are the Dodger's leaders and why haven't they condemned this behavior? A cookie-cutter statement from the team's VP of communications is not enough. The team's owner, GM, Coach, and leading players should all be speaking out condemning violence and even visiting the victim's family. Dodger and Giants fans cannot have a fun, friendly rivalry if the visiting team's fans are too afraid to even show up at the game. I am just as disgusted at the Dodger Franchise's weak reaction to this crime as I am with the pigs who committed it.

Another totally un-classy move by the Franchise that is more committed to raising parking prices than it is to its own integrity and fan safety.

[skytalker15]

Chavez Ravine's parking lots are a war zone. Three years ago, my brother and I were chased through the lower lots simply because we were wearing Yankee hats.

The Dodgers, the McCourts and the LAPD should be ashamed, but I guess a murder or two a year is acceptible "collateral damage." And FOX will play its part later today by broadcasting from Dodger Stadium.

Ah. The merry dance of death and trade goes on.

[JJ]

This is sickening. What kind of monsters do this to someone who is simply a fan of another team.

[A. Alonso]

So called "fans", like these two are an embarassment and danger to us real fans. I'm all for a little good natured "smack talk" between rival fans, but it seems every Opening Day I witness numerous physical assaults committed on fans of the other team. I knew with the Giants in town this year, it might be even worse than usual. And sure enough, I witnessed at least 5 fights in the stands near my section alone. This assault sounds simply awful.
I hope those two thugs get arrested and locked up for many years. Something tells me it wont be their first visit to jail.
Prayers are with the victim, Bryan Stow, and his family.

[J.B.]

What was I thinking assuming the attackers weren't cholos? I have to stop giving these displaced Raider fans the benefit of the doubt.

[Dodger Tony]

Beyond the obvious lack of security and rowdy Raider fan mentality combined with Dodger/Giant animus, this action must also be considered a hate crime. What is not discussed, or is kept under the surface as it is politically incorrect to discuss, is that two male Latinos attacked a white male and those who were with him, whose race has not been divulged. While race may have not been the direct incentive for the attempted murder, tacit in this current permutation of the rivalry is a class warfare between two cities, one upwardly mobile and distinctively Anglo Saxon, the other with sharp divisions of class and intense poverty where honor codes find moorings within the disenfranchised. After the Raiders left Los Angeles, a vacuum was created and with the Dodgers instability and amusement park mentality, location to Latino enclaves and still affordable theater, the transition was natural. This action is merely consistent with the archetypal mythology that undergirds the Mike Davis madness that is at the heart of Los Angeles. It is an act of unconscious revolt, and is not a stretch to extrapolate the adjective from that.

[sc]

this is just wrong - it's a GAME - only a game! I remember growing up going to giants/dodger games in L.A. - it used to be fun and safe . . . now there are just too many punks out there!

[California Rush]

Those were not Dodger fans! They were frustrated football fans who have not had a chance to riot in years! Just wait until the NFL is back in LA ! There then will be no more problems of this nature at Dodger Stadium. The LAPD should get triple pay to work those games, and of course Lepukeski says "Not with taxpayer money" I wonder if they will be selling insurance to fans? Or what the premiums will be like for city employees that provide emergency services "without taxpayer money!" ?