Security boosted at Levi’s Stadium to thwart any team-rivalry violence
‘We recognize the fact that this is a highly charged game and rivalry and people can get overzealous’
SANTA CLARA >> To help keep the peace among rival fan bases in the matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders on Thursday night, officials are planning extra security measures including boosting the number of undercover officers — sporting jerseys of both teams — out in force at Levi’s Stadium.
“The history of games between these two teams is known to us,” Santa Clara police Capt. Wahid Kazem said, acknowledging previous violent clashes among fans. “This will be quite different than any other football game we’ve hosted this year.”
The 49ers and Raiders last faced off in December 2014 at Oakland-Alameda Coliseum for a regular-season game, and there were no notable fan clashes. Even so, the NFL has not revived the teams’ once-annual preseason matchups, which were suspended in 2011 after two men were shot in the Candlestick Park parking lot and another man was beaten in a stadium restroom.
“We recognize the fact that this is a highly charged game and rivalry and people can get overzealous,” said Jim Mercurio, Levi’s general manger and the team’s vice president of stadium operations. “For the most part, if people want to come down here and try to misbehave, they’re go-
ing to find themselves met with resistance. If you’re coming to the game to enjoy a nice rivalry and root for your team, you’ll have a great time.”
For a typical NFL game at Levi’s, Santa Clara police employ over 100 outof-town officers to work at the stadium. While police would not disclose precise details about their officer presence for Thursday, Kazem said it will be noticeably higher.
“We understand that to make the event more secure, we’re going to have to increase our personnel, both in uniform and not in uniform,” Kazem said.
Essentially, both police and the 49ers want any agitators to know that the rival fan they’re thinking of starting a fight with could be a cop.
“There will be a huge contingency of undercover officers,” Mercurio said. “You won’t always see this, but I assure you they will be out there in full force.”
In addition to the stepped up police and security, regular security and fan conduct rules will be in place Thursday. Tailgating ends at kickoff — 5:20 p.m. — and no one will be allowed in the stadium parking lots for tailgating without a game ticket.
Mercurio added that any post-Halloween spillover will be tightly watched.
“You’re not going to be able to come in with masks on,” he said.
The team added that goes even for the silver and black masks known to be donned by the most devoted of the Raiders faithful.
Kazem noted that police will exercise their discretion to end alcohol sales inside the stadium earlier than the standard end-ofthird-quarter cutoff if they find themselves responding to an unusual amount of confrontations in the stands or concourses.
And while police are readying to intervene in any clashes, they’re also keeping a close eye on traffic, given that kickoff is in the heart of commute hours.
“We’ll definitely have more activity on the roadways,” Kazem said. “It’s a different area to focus on Thursday as opposed to Sunday night.”
Meanwhile, the victim of a parking lot assault at Levi’s Stadium from earlier this month remains in critical condition at Valley Medical Center.
David Aguilera Gonzales, 34, of Madera, was charged with assault by means of force causing great bodily injury — in this case a brain injury leading to the victim becoming comatose — after allegedly punching a man multiple times during a confrontation after the game against the Arizona Cardinals.
According to Santa Clara police, a man was walking through the lot near Great America Parkway and Tasman Drive when he kicked a bottle that was lying on the ground, and the bottle hit a car belonging to Gonzales.
A police account submitted to prosecutors states that when the man tried to apologize for the bottle kick, Gonzales punched him, knocking him to the ground, and that when the victim got up and tried to walk away, Gonzales punched him again, knocking him down again, then drove away.
The victim was conscious and responsive to officers when interviewed at the scene, then taken to the hospital for evaluation. It was there that the victim fell into a coma, and was diagnosed with injuries including bleeding in his brain. A source familiar with the investigation said video of the assault showed the victim’s head hitting the concrete forcefully after being punched.
Gonzales, who was identified in part also by surveillance video, reportedly told police after he was arrested that “he felt threatened by the victim and was defending himself from the victim’s aggressive actions,” according to the police account.
Gonzales is free on $75,000 bail, and is scheduled to return to court Dec. 13.