LOS ANGELES (CNS) – A settlement has been reached in a lawsuit brought against the Los Angeles Dodgers by a fan hospitalized with a serious brain injury when he was allegedly attacked in a stadium parking lot after a game in 2019.
Attorneys for Rafael Reyna filed court papers with LA Superior Court Judge Anne Hwang on Aug. 1 stating that the case was resolved. No terms were divulged. Trial had been set for Sept. 23.
Reyna’s lawsuit alleged negligence, premises liability, assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress. He maintained the lighting was poor and security was lacking at the game.
Reyna’s wife, Christel Reyna, alleged negligent infliction of emotional distress as a bystander to the attack.
The Reynas’ attorneys maintained in their previous court papers that the crime rate at Dodger Stadium exceeds that of any other ballpark in Major League Baseball.
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 LA police officers, the suit filed in April 2020 alleged.
Rafael Reyna was attacked after watching the Dodgers play the Arizona Diamondbacks on March 29, 2019, the suit stated. The game lasted 13 innings and ended shortly before midnight, according to the complaint.
After the game, Rafael 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 stated.
In 2011, Bryan Stow, a San Francisco Giants fan, was attacked in one of the venue’s parking lots. An LA Superior Court jury in 2014 awarded about $18 million in damages to Stow while attributing 75% of the liability to his two assailants who beat him into a coma, 25% to the team and none to McCourt.