Riverside father dies from injuries sustained breaking up bar fight

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KABC) -- The family of Adam Valles said he was just trying to help when he stepped into the middle of a bar fight. The Good Samaritan ended up paying with his life.

A cellphone video captured a portion of the brawl. A man who can be seen on the ground is one of the men the victim's wife, Johana, says tackled her husband.

"He saw a fight breaking out. He went to go help. He broke up the fight, but then someone tackled him to floor. He got up and then someone else hit him and he fell and he never got back up after that," Johanna said.

It happened last Saturday around 2 a.m. as the couple was wrapping up their evening with her husband's sisters.

While waiting for an Uber to pick them up, Valles noticed several men beating up another man on the ground. He stepped in to stop it and was tackled from behind.

Johana Valles said her husband got up but was hit by a second man. When he fell he hit his head on the sidewalk.

The 28-year-old was in a coma until yesterday when he passed away from his injuries.

"There were so many people there somebody had to have seen him. Even if you think you didn't see anything just please contact the police," Johana Valles pleaded.

During a vigil Friday, his family pleaded that the man responsible for Valles' death comes forward.

"I don't know what to do without him...I don't want to look at his pictures because my heart hurts and it breaks," his father said.

Riverside police also released surveillance video from a parking camera.

Investigators said they want to speak to witnesses, especially anyone who captured the fight on their cellphone.

Valles leaves behind two young children: a 4-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter who said she misses her daddy.