Bryan Stow family suing Dodgers

The family of San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow, who was brutally beaten in the parking lot at Dodger Stadium on Opening Day, filed a civil suit against the Dodgers in Los Angeles Superior Court Tuesday morning.
The suit seeks unspecified damages to cover Stow's future medical care and as compensation for the economic damages to Stow and his two children.
"It's fairly simple," said Thomas Girardi, the attorney representing the family. "The Dodgers have shown a total disregard for public safety. They've gotten rid of security people. They've had all these incidents at their games, more than other teams. There's also a known gang presence. What did they think was going to happen?"
Girardi said that the family insisted on repaying much of the money that has been raised for the Bryan Stow Fund since the attack, except for a scholarship for Stow's children that was donated by Giants slugger Barry Bonds because it "means so much to them."
The Dodgers declined comment because it is a pending legal matter.
In the wake of the attack, the Dodgers agreed to pay for increased security presence supervised by Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck and hired former L.A. police chief Bill Bratton to work on long-term measures to improve stadium security.
The team also paid for the Stow families' hotel bill at the Downtown Los Angeles Marriott while Stow was hospitalized at County USC Medical Center for almost seven weeks and pledged nearly half of the $250,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Stow's attackers.
Girardi said that the crux of his argument will be that there were steps the Dodgers could have taken to better protect public safety, but willfully chose to put their resources in other areas.
"They've added all these off-duty police officers now. Would this have happened if they were there before?" Girardi said. "The Dodgers have, at least in our view, inappropriately spent their money. They pay the highest rent of any other team in baseball, and of course we know they pay that rent to the McCourts.
"This incident wouldn't have happened if just proper care had been taken with regard to security, and now the results are hideous."
Girardi added that the suit does not stipulate an exact figure on damages because it is so difficult to quantify the economic impact on Stow's family and what his long-term medical needs will be.
"Although everybody is hopeful that this turns out well, facing the cold hard facts, we know that this is going to have a lifetime impact on Mr. Stow," Girardi said. "Not to mention his two children, who have been robbed of their relationship with him."

Ramona Shelburne is a columnist and reporter for ESPNLosAngeles.com.