A Riverside County man who alleges that he was wrongfully crushed by safety personnel at Dodger Stadium on opening day in 2018 has been awarded $105,000 in punitive damages in Los Angeles Superior Courtroom.
The court docket on Friday assessed $100,000 of Francisco Rodriguez’s damages towards the Dodgers and $5,000 towards Dodgers safety officer Erik Pena, who was discovered to have acted with malice. A number of different safety officers included within the lawsuit had been discovered to not have acted inappropriately.
Rodriguez alleged that safety officers forcibly ejected him after he objected to the way in which one other fan was being handled throughout the March 29, 2018, recreation towards the San Francisco Giants and was forcibly ejected. The guards escorting Rodriguez to the exit frequently battered him, together with jabbing his ribs with a baton, taking him to the bottom and repeatedly punching him with closed fists, in keeping with the lawsuit, which additionally alleges {that a} guard positioned his knee on Rodriguez, who instructed him, “I can’t breathe.”
The Dodgers mentioned that Rodriguez grabbed Pena by the collar outdoors the stadium gates and slugged him on the appropriate cheek, in keeping with court docket paperwork. Rodriguez admitted taking a swing at Pena and mentioned the guard retaliated by punching him as many as six occasions.
The Dodgers have a number of lawsuits towards them within the courts. Three fits filed in April 2022, define three incidents by which safety officers allegedly perpetrated acts of assault, battery, false imprisonment, civil rights violations and emotional misery towards followers at Dodger Stadium.
In response to court docket paperwork, the group’s safety pressure consists of “non-sworn individuals,” uniformed off-duty sworn Los Angeles Police Division officers and sworn off-duty legislation enforcement officers with out badges.
A Occasions investigation in September reported that safety at Dodger Stadium elevated after a 2011 incident by which two Dodgers followers confronted Giants fan Brian Stow and his buddies within the parking zone after a recreation. They sucker-punched and kicked Stow, inflicting mind injury. The lads had been despatched to jail for assault and mayhem.
The Dodgers and the LAPD responded to a report by Main League Baseball that cited a deterioration of crowd conduct and “a tradition of apathy and indifference” among the many group’s safety employees by beefing up safety with skilled LAPD officers.
“We are going to expend no matter sources essential to hold followers secure at Dodger Stadium,” mentioned Charlie Beck, chief of police on the time. “That is going to be a game-changer.”
After Beck introduced a crackdown, police in 2011 wrote solely 20 reviews, 12 of which concerned assault, battery or different alleged violence towards 12 victims at Dodger Stadium. By 2014, nevertheless, that complete had grown to 69, together with 33 violent incidents and 47 victims.
In 2022, 71 crime reviews, together with 35 violent incidents and 47 victims, had been filed, and as of mid-August 2023, police had filed one other 53 reviews — 27 for violence towards 33 victims. The alleged conduct included battery, battery on a police officer, easy assault and assault with a lethal weapon.
The Dodgers forbid pregame tailgate events within the parking zone, revoke season tickets for unhealthy conduct and eject rowdy followers. But stricter enforcement by safety employees has led to the rash of lawsuits for extreme use of pressure.