Man Allegedly Attacked at Dodger Stadium Sues Team Owner

A Downey man who alleges he was attacked by other fans in a Dodger Stadium parking lot while trying to exchange information after a minor traffic accident in 2012 is suing former team owner Frank McCourt.

George Cruz and Jazmin Navarette, the mother of his child, filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court against McCourt and multiple Dodger-related entities. The suit also names as defendants the four men who were in the other car: Arthur Morales, Alan Trujillo, Ulisis Briceno and Alejandro Briceno.

The suit alleges assault, battery, negligence, false imprisonment and both intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. Navarette also is suing for loss of consortium.

The suit seeks unspecified damages. Dodger attorney Jerome Jackson did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment.

According to the lawsuit, Cruz and Navarette returned to their car in parking lot C after a game at Dodger Stadium on May 20, 2012. As they attempted to drive away, the car in front of Cruz rolled backward and struck his front bumper, the suit states.

Cruz got out of his car to check for any damage and to exchange information with Morales, but the latter "refused to produce his insurance information and repeatedly used profanities to insult Cruz," the suit states.

Trujillo and the Bricenos attacked Cruz and he fell to the pavement, where his head was "slammed into the ground and kicked repeatedly," the suit states.

The suit alleges there was inadequate security at the stadium even though the team "had reason to know of gang and other criminal activity on its premises," according to the lawsuit.

Navarette, who was pregnant at the time, witnessed the incident and feared for her own safety and that of her unborn child, the suit states.

The filing of the lawsuit comes a week before jury selection is scheduled to begin in trial of Bryan Stow's negligence suit against McCourt. Stow suffered a brain injury after being attacked by two Dodger fans in the stadium parking lot on March 31, 2011.

—City News Service