A Dodgers fan who says he was attacked in one of the stadium parking lots after a 2019 home game is suing the team, alleging the lighting was poor and security was lacking.
Rafael Reyna's Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleges negligence, premises liability, assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress. His wife, Christel Reyna, has a separate bystander claim for emotional distress.
The 48-year-old plaintiff, then of Eastvale in Riverside County, was on the phone with his wife and she heard him being assaulted and his head hitting the ground, according to the suit filed Thursday. She also detected his labored breathing and groans and stayed on the phone until he got assistance, the suit says.
Brian Kealey, the Dodgers' security manager, is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages.
The team declined to comment on the suit.
Girardi & Keese, one of two law firms representing Reyna, won a multimillion-dollar verdict in 2014 for San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow of Capitola, who suffered a permanent brain injury in a March 31, 2011, beating in a Dodger Stadium parking lot.
The Reynas' attorneys believe the crime rate at Dodger Stadium exceeds that of any other ballpark in Major League Baseball, according to the filing.
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Security was reduced in 2004 for financial reasons, possibly due to the financial troubles of former owner Frank McCourt, and in 2008, the Dodgers began relying solely on security guards uniformed in polo shirts, without any uniformed Los Angeles police officers, the suit alleges.
"The lack of LAPD-uniformed security personnel diminished the safety and security of Dodger Stadium by creating a more relaxed atmosphere without the threat of immediate police intervention," emboldening wrongdoers at the stadium, the suit alleges.
Reyna was attacked after watching the Dodgers play the Arizona Diamondbacks on March 29, 2019, the suit states. The game lasted 13 innings and ended shortly before midnight, according to the complaint.
After the game, Reyna went to one of the parking lots to reach his car and called his wife to let her know he would soon be departing Dodger Stadium, but he was overtaken by about five people and violently beaten, causing him to collapse onto the parking lot asphalt and strike his head, the suit states.
The attack was not witnessed by any security guards and the area was "notoriously poorly lit," the suit alleges.
Dodgers personnel took 10 minutes to locate Reyna and even longer to get him emergency treatment, the suit alleges.
The team knew about "numerous prior similar incidents at Dodger Stadium" that occurred in part because of the lack of security, including uniformed LAPD officers, the suit alleges.
