A Riverside County man who alleges that he was wrongfully beaten by security personnel at Dodger Stadium on opening day in 2018 has been awarded $105,000 in punitive damages in Los Angeles Superior Court.
The court docket on Friday assessed $100,000 of Francisco Rodriguez’s damages in opposition to the Dodgers and $5,000 in opposition to Dodgers security officer Erik Pena, who was discovered to have acted with malice. Several different security officers included within the lawsuit had been discovered not to have acted inappropriately.
Rodriguez alleged that security officers forcibly ejected him after he objected to the way in which one other fan was being handled through the March 29, 2018, recreation in opposition to the San Francisco Giants. The guards escorting Rodriguez to the exit regularly battered him, together with jabbing his ribs with a baton and repeatedly punching him with closed fists, in accordance to the lawsuit, which additionally alleges {that a} guard positioned his knee on Rodriguez, who informed him, “I can’t breathe.”
The Dodgers stated that Rodriguez grabbed Pena by the collar outdoors the stadium gates and slugged him on the proper cheek, in accordance to court docket paperwork. Rodriguez admitted taking a swing at Pena and stated the guard retaliated by punching him as many as six instances.
The Dodgers have a number of lawsuits in opposition to them within the courts. Three fits filed in April 2022 define three incidents during which security officers allegedly perpetrated acts of assault, battery, false imprisonment, civil rights violations and emotional misery in opposition to followers at Dodger Stadium.
According to court docket paperwork, the crew’s security pressure consists of “non-sworn persons,” uniformed off-duty sworn Los Angeles Police Department officers and sworn off-duty legislation enforcement officers with out badges.
A Times investigation in September reported that security at Dodger Stadium elevated after a 2011 incident during which two Dodgers followers confronted Giants fan Brian Stow and his mates within the car parking zone after a recreation. They sucker-punched and kicked Stow, inflicting mind injury. The males had been despatched to jail for assault and mayhem.
The Dodgers and the LAPD responded to a report by Major League Baseball that cited a deterioration of crowd habits and “a culture of apathy and indifference” among the many crew’s security workers by beefing up security with skilled LAPD officers.
“We will expend whatever resources necessary to keep fans safe at Dodger Stadium,” stated Charlie Beck, chief of police on the time. “This is going to be a game-changer.”
After Beck introduced a crackdown, police in 2011 wrote solely 20 studies, 12 of which concerned assault, battery or different alleged violence in opposition to 12 victims at Dodger Stadium. By 2014, nonetheless, that complete had grown to 69, together with 33 violent incidents and 47 victims.
In 2022, 71 crime studies, together with 35 violent incidents and 47 victims, had been filed, and as of mid-August 2023, police had filed one other 53 studies — 27 for violence in opposition to 33 victims. The alleged habits included battery, battery on a police officer, easy assault and assault with a lethal weapon.
The Dodgers forbid pregame tailgate events within the car parking zone, revoke season tickets for dangerous habits and eject rowdy followers. Yet stricter enforcement by security workers has led to the rash of lawsuits for extreme use of pressure.
