LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A Dodger fan is suing the team after he was beaten by other spectators in one of the Dodger Stadium parking lots after a 2019 game in which he alleges the lighting was poor and security lacking.
Rafael Reyna's Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit was filed Thursday and alleges negligence, premises liability, assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress. His wife, Christel Reyna, has a separate bystander claim for emotional distress.
During the attack, Reyna was on the phone with his wife and she heard him being assaulted and his head hitting the ground, the suit states. She also detected his labored breathing and groans and stayed on the phone until he got assistance, according to the suit.
The couple seek unspecified damages. Brian Kealey, the Dodger security manager, is also a defendant.
A Dodger representative did not immediately return a request for comment.
Reyna's attorneys believe the crime rate at Dodger Stadium exceeds that of any other ballpark in Major League Baseball, the suit states. In 2004, security was reduced for financial reasons, possibly due to the financial troubles of former owner Frank McCourt, the suit states.
In 2008, the Dodgers began relying solely on security guards uniformed in polo shirts, without any uniformed Los Angeles police officers, the suit states.
“The lack of LAPD-uniformed security personnel diminished the safety and security of Dodger Stadium by creating a more relaxed atmosphere without the threat of immediate police intervention,” emboldening wrongdoers at the stadium, the suit states
Reyna attended a Dodgers game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on March 29, 2019, the suit states. The game lasted 13 innings and ended shortly before midnight, according to the complaint.
After the game, Reyna went to one of the parking lots to reach his car, the suit states. He called his wife to let her know he would soon be departing Dodger Stadium, but was overtaken by about five people and violently beaten, causing him to collapse onto the parking lot asphalt and strike his head, the suit states.
The attack was not witnessed by any security guards and the area was “notoriously poorly lit,” the suit states.
Dodger personnel took 10 minutes to find out where Reyna was and even longer for them to get him emergency treatment, the suit alleges.
The Dodgers knew about “numerous prior similar incidents at Dodger Stadium” and that they occurred in part because of the lack of security, including uniformed LAPD officers, the suit states.
Girardi & Keese is one of two law firms representing Reyna. In 2014, Giants fan Bryan Stow of Capitola, also represented by Girardi & Keese, was awarded a multi-million-dollar verdict stemming from a permanent brain injury he suffered in a March 31, 2011, beating in a Dodger Stadium parking lot.
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