SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) – The beatings of a San Francisco 49ers fan and a Los Angeles Angels fan at the respective franchises’ stadiums apparently did not involve the sort of team-on-team rivalry that has led to other recent spectator violence, yet the seemingly random attacks caused no less concern over safety at major sports venues.
“A small percentage of the fans cause the biggest issues. These are the ones who have lost perspective that this is a sport, a team,” said Kathy Samoun, who founded the nonprofit Fans Against Violence in 2011 after two violent stadium attacks: a shooting at Candlestick Park and a brutal beating outside the Los Angeles Dodgers’ stadium that left Bryan Stow, fan of the rival San Francisco Giants, permanently disabled.
On Sunday, a 49ers fan was hospitalized in serious condition after a bathroom brawl at the new Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. Police said Monday they were reviewing video of the fight, in which everyone involved appears to be wearing 49ers gear.
In Southern California, police Monday were looking for three men suspected of brutally beating a man in the parking lot of Angel Stadium of Anaheim after the Angels’ playoff game Friday night. Anaheim police said a 43-year-old former Los Angeles police officer was walking to his car with a relative when they were attacked, apparently for no reason.
In the Northern California attack, Alex Cartagena, who posted the video online after his brother-in-law Justin Sweeney recorded it, said the situation in the men’s restroom was intense.