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Rafael Reyna, a father of 4, was attacked after a Dodgers sport in 2019. The household remains to be ready for the suspect to be discovered and have been dwelling with the challenges of a traumatic mind damage for the previous three years. (Photograph courtesy of the Reyna household)
When life-long Dodgers fan Rafael Reyna purchased tickets to the Dodgers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks sport on March 29, 2019, he thought it will finish like some other of the numerous video games he had been to. He would stroll straight to his automotive after the final inning, drive to his Eastvale house, and go to mattress.
As a substitute, an argument within the car parking zone led to a single punch to the pinnacle that left Reyna moaning on the concrete whereas his spouse, who was on the telephone with him, struggled to make sense of what occurred.
What adopted was a medically induced coma that lasted over a month, reminiscence loss, continued bodily remedy three years later, and challenges nonetheless forward, mentioned Christel Valle-Reyna, Reyna’s spouse.
“Our entire life modified in that few seconds,” she mentioned. “My husband was a hard-working household man who gave a number of his time to children locally via his teaching. Now, my husband struggles to stroll via a grocery retailer with me.”
The assault on a fan after the Rams-49ers sport on Jan. 30 triggered reminiscences of her husband’s assault – and frustration that it retains taking place.
Fan-on-fan violence has been a aspect impact of the risky mixture of alcohol, the eagerness of sports activities followers and the logistical challenges of sustaining a protected atmosphere for 1000's of them at a time.
In September 1990, a Pittsburgh Steelers fan was in important situation after being crushed unconscious by a Los Angeles Raiders fan throughout a sport between the 2 groups on the LA Coliseum. The attacker served a brief jail sentence after pleading responsible.
The sufferer, Paul Albrecht, settled a lawsuit with a number of events, together with the administration firm of the Coliseum and the L.A. Raiders group, for an undisclosed quantity in 1994. On the time, L.A. Metropolis officers mentioned they'd beef up safety and instantly arrest anybody violating the regulation as an alternative of simply ejecting them.
However 4 years later, an enormous battle at a Rams-Raiders sport at Anaheim Stadium resulted in roughly 20 arrests and public outcry to ban alcohol gross sales. Final 12 months, the Los Angeles Soccer Membership and the LA Galaxy organizations issued a joint assertion condemning fan violence after two soccer matches, one at Dignity Well being Sports activities Park in Carson and one at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles, resulted in clashes between followers.
Maybe one of the crucial well-known situations of fan violence was the assault on Bryan Stow in 2011 at Dodger’s Stadium. His story is much like Rafael Reyna’s, besides he was rooting for the opposite crew, the San Francisco Giants.
Stow suffered everlasting mind harm and facial disfiguration, and was in a coma for 9 months. Two males had been sentenced for his or her elements within the assault. A jury discovered the Dodgers partially answerable for the assault.
In 2015, simply 4 years later, Ariel Auffant, a Bakersfield geologist, acquired a traumatic mind damage after being kicked and punched following a Dodgers-Mets sport. The assailant paid greater than $100,000 in restitution to the sufferer, did nearly two months of neighborhood service and needed to take an anger administration course. Auffant additionally sued the crew and reached a settlement for an undisclosed quantity.
RELATED: How Giants fan Bryan Stow has turned his trauma right into a message for 1000's of youngsters
One other fan, Peter Bergin, filed a lawsuit in 2019 in opposition to the Rams and the safety firm on the L.A. Coliseum over an assault his lawyer mentioned left Bergin with critical head and again accidents after a Rams-Minnesota Vikings sport in September 2018. The events reached an out of court docket settlement for an undisclosed quantity.
Regardless of being previous season ticket holders, the Reynas haven't been again to a Dodgers sport for the reason that incident.
“How can we probably take our youngsters to any sporting occasion when their security may very well be in jeopardy?” mentioned Christel Valle-Reyna. “Now they’re shedding out on these experiences.”
The investigation into Reyna’s attacker has stalled, and LAPD has but to make an arrest within the case. It’s unfair, Christel Valle-Reyna mentioned, that they can go on dwelling their life with out penalties whereas her household struggles. The household worries the case has gotten misplaced within the shuffle.
“Nobody has been held accountable,” mentioned Carl Douglas, the household’s lawyer. “We're going to push ahead looking for to carry the Dodgers accountable for his or her share of accountability for what occurred.”
The household filed a private damage lawsuit in April 2020 in opposition to the Dodgers and are at present within the discovery section. The Dodgers have referred to as the assault “unlucky” and mentioned the crew was dedicated to making sure the protection of its followers. The group mentioned it doesn't touch upon pending litigation.
LAPD additionally declined to touch upon the standing of the Reyna case, citing the pending lawsuit.
A big police presence is deliberate for the Tremendous Bowl at So-Fi, in response to Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts.
However Christel Valle-Reyna mentioned she’ll be holding her breath as with each main sporting occasion since her husband’s beating, questioning if the followers will make it house safely.