California Personal Injury Lawyers Blog
The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants have one of the most storied rivalries in all of sports, dating back before both teams moved west to when they were in New York. Last year the Giants won the World Series, making opening day this year at Dodger Stadium even more special.
According to the Los Angeles Times, after the Dodgers 2-1 opening day victory, most tragically, two alleged Dodgers fans attacked three Giant fans in the parking lot, resulting in a serious brain injury to one of the Giants fans.
Brian Stow, age 42, a paramedic from Santa Cruz and a father of two children, wearing Giant apparel, was walking through the parking lot with two friends when he was violently attacked, punched, knocked to the ground and kicked. As a result, Stow suffered a catastrophic injury to his brain and is in a medically induced coma at Los Angeles County – USC Medical Center, and remains in critical condition. The attackers reportedly fled in a car driven by a woman.
There is a $50,000.00 reward for information leading to arrests and if you have any information you are requested to call the LAPD at 213.847.4261.
Clearly, this is a criminal incident where the persons who attacked Stow should be arrested and tried. There also are several possible civil actions. The first, based on intentional acts, often referred to as assault and battery, would be against those persons who attacked and injured Brian Show. In such incidents, one must also consider the probability of collecting on any judgment or settlement. In a typical accident case, such as an auto collision, if the responsible party has insurance, then that insurer will pay the amount determined owed, up to the insurance policy limits. However, when there is criminal activity, such as an intentional assault and battery, insurance generally will not apply or provide coverage as it usually will not cover a claim based on such intentional acts. Hence, it might be necessary to try to collect against the personal assets, if any, of the persons responsible, if ever identified. There are exceptions which a member of our California personal injury law firm can discuss with you.
There also may be a negligence action against the Dodgers if it can be shown the Dodgers were on notice of the possibility of such attacks and did not take appropriate security measures to try to prevent such violent attacks as occurred on opening day. Brawls between fans of these two teams have been occurring since 1890. On opening day last year 123 arrests were recorded and this year the arrests were down to 72, not including the two who attacked Brian Stow and escaped.
One wonders whether there were less arrests this year because there was more security preventing violence or because less officers policing the stadium to make arrests? This and other facts need to be thoroughly investigated.
Remember, if you are involved in an accident where the responsible person flees the scene, including hit and run car accidents, this does not mean that you cannot recover for your injuries and damages. There are various investigative tools as well as insurance provisions that may be used to obtain a recovery for you. If you have been injured in an accident, call our office now for a free consultation with a Los Angles personal injury lawyer.
If you have been injured in an accident, call our offices now at 818.222.3400 or toll free at 1-866-INJURY-2 for a free consultation.