SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) – Brawls at the San Francisco 49ers’ and Los Angeles Angels’ stadiums over the weekend have left a football fan and a baseball fan hospitalized in serious condition, raising calls for increased 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 San Francisco Giants fan Brian Stowe 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.
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.
“One guy was impatient about another guy not taking the stall quickly enough,” he said. “It happened really quickly. Next thing you know, the guy’s lying on the floor.”