Dodger Stadium attack ‘came out of nowhere’

A man critically injured in a fight outside Dodger Stadium on Friday fell backward and hit his head on the ground after being punched, according to a man who said he witnessed the attack.

Sean Gould said he was walking out of the stadium when he saw a group of about a dozen people scuff ling in a parking lot about 30 feet away. It looked as if the fight was breaking up, Gould said, when one man punched the other.

“The guy who threw the punch came out of nowhere,” Gould said.

The victim, who Gould said appeared to be middleaged, was hit “so hard he was just knocked out immediately.”

“You heard his skull hitting the concrete,” Gould said.

A woman came up and started kicking the man who was on the ground, Gould said, as the man who threw the punch yelled. The pair then ran off.

Other people rushed to help the victim, Gould said, using rally towels to wrap his head.

Los Angeles police said the man, whose name has not been released, was critically injured and remained in serious condition at a hospital.

The fight broke out after the Dodgers dropped the first game of the National League Division Series to the New York Mets, 3-1. The altercation began as a verbal confrontation and escalated, police said.

Detectives believe a mother and son were responsible for the assault, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said Tuesday. The chief declined to say whether the victim or suspects were fans of rival teams.

“Everybody has to remember that we are preparing a case for prosecution when we catch these individuals — and we will,” Beck told reporters. “It’s important to keep the record consistent.”

Police described the first suspect as a 25- to 30-yearold man with light-colored hair and a medium build. The woman was said to be 40 to 50 years old, with blond hair and about 5 feet, 3 inches tall.

The LAPD’s elite robbery-homicide detectives — who typically handle highprofile or more complex cases — are working the investigation. They went to interview the victim at the hospital Tuesday but weren’t able to speak with him, LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith said.

Police said investigators had interviewed witnesses and also reviewed video that captured the assault. Beck urged anyone else who saw the confrontation to call the LAPD.

A spokesman for the Dodgers said the team had no comment Tuesday.

Friday’s fight recalled the 2011 beating of Bryan Stow, the San Francisco Giants fan who was attacked in a Dodger Stadium parking lot after the opening day game.

Stow suffered serious brain damage and remains severely impaired from the attack. Two men, Marvin Norwood and Louie Sanchez, pleaded guilty to beating Stow and were sent to federal prison.

Stow sued the Dodgers and their former owner Frank McCourt, saying they were to blame for the attack because of insufficient security and lighting. A jury faulted the team, along with Sanchez and Norwood, and awarded Stow nearly $18 million. The beating drew national attention and led to increased security at the stadium.

Gould said he has attended several Dodgers games in the four years since he’s lived in Los Angeles, even though he’s a Mets fan. He usually doesn’t run into any problems, he said.

But on Friday, he said, some Dodgers fans began to heckle Gould and his friend as they walked out of the stadium wearing their Mets caps. He said he was shaken by what he saw later in the parking lot.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said.