Police charge pair in Giants’ fan attack (AFP)
LOS ANGELES (AFP) ? Two men were charged in connection with an attack on a San Francisco Giants’ baseball fan on Friday, almost four months after the fan was brutally beaten while attending a Los Angeles Dodgers game.
California prosecutors charged Louie Sanchez, 29, and Marvin Norwood, 30, with one count each of mayhem, assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury, and battery with serious bodily injury.
Both were being held on $500,000 bail after being arrested by Los Angeles police on Thursday.
The arrest and charges come months after the March 31 beating of 42-year-old paramedic Bryan Stow, who suffered a brain injury in the attack in the Dodgers stadium parking lot. Stow remains in serious condition in a San Francisco hospital.
Police had initially arrested another man, Giovanni Ramirez, in May but he was never charged. Ramirez remains in custody on a separate parole/gun violation.
Los Angeles police chief, Charlie Beck, said Friday that Ramirez is no longer a suspect in the stadium assault which took place on American baseball’s opening day.
“In policing, it’s just as important to exonerate the innocent as it is to implicate the guilty,” Beck said Friday at a terse news conference. “I want to tell the world that Giovanni Ramirez is no longer a suspect in this case.”
Ramirez’ lawyer has consistently said Ramirez was not at Dodger Stadium on the day of the attack.
Dorene Sanchez, believed to be the sister of Louie Sanchez, had been arrested on suspicion of being an accessory after the fact then released. Witnesses said the two men who beat Stow were wearing Dodgers clothing.
Stow opened his eyes on command and appeared to mouth his last name his family said Friday on their website.
Stow, a and father of two, suffered serious brain injuries when he was attacked by two men in the stadium car park after the Dodgers’ hosted the Giants on March 31.
He was hospitalized in Los Angeles before being moved to a hospital in San Francisco.
His family said in a blog post that Stow’s medical team found him alert on Friday morning. He may even have tried to give a thumbs-up signal.
The good news comes five days after Stow underwent emergency surgery to relieve fluid buildup in his head that caused a seizure.
chicken rosie huntington whiteley julia roberts phillies phillies jonathan rhys meyers loft