Dodgers security expert testifies in Stow suit

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The Los Angeles Dodgers defense began its case in the Bryan Stow civil trial lawsuit against the organization and former owner Frank McCourt. Bryan Stow, a Northern California paramedic, was beaten in a Dodger Stadium parking lot on opening day of 2011, resulting in permanent brain damage.

Tuesday the defense called security expert Robert Campbell, a Major League Baseball security monitor to the witness stand.

Campbell testified that he saw more security at Dodger Stadium that day than in his lifetime of 900 games, with the exception of the 2009 Yankees World Series game.

He wrote in a follow-up report that lines for beer were long and congested. "Due to the large number of security posted there we observed no security incidents," he wrote.

There was a one arrest. A Marine attempted to punch an off-duty police officer. There were 92 ejections for mostly alcohol-related reasons. That's far above normal. Campbell testified that a typical number is nine to 10.

Campbell said he did not see the fight in which Bryan Stow was attacked in Lot 2, resulting in Stow's permanent brain damage.

The civil suit against the Dodgers and former owner Frank McCourt claims that while there were scores of security personnel, there were gaps; that the number of LAPD officers in uniform was cut and there was inadequate patrolling of the parking lot where Stow was attacked and permanently disabled.

The Stow attorneys elicited that the Dodgers property is sprawling, larger than any other MLB park, because so many drive to the game. Hence a demand for more parking lot security.

"According to their own plans, two people from Dodgers were supposed to be in that parking lot," said Stow attorney Tom Girardi. "So it doesn't matter if they had 200 guys or 5,000 guys, they had no one where the assaults took place, and that's their responsibility."

Former LAPD Lieutenant Steven Flores testified there were 50 to 100 police personnel added for that 2011 opening day because there was a progressive level of violence in 2010, including intoxication, arrests, and rowdy and unruly behavior.

With enhanced security, Flores stated, problems were minimized in 2011.

The Dodgers defense asked Flores if everything was successful from his standpoint. Not totally, he said. There were issues that came up, but they were as prepared as much as possible.

Flores told jurors that LAPD was focused on the persistent trouble spots in adjacent public parks, not the Dodger parking lots.

The defense claims that Stow contributed to his own injuries by provoking the fight.