Police Arrest Suspect in Beating of Giants Fan at Dodger Stadium

After hundreds of dead-end leads and bogus tips from reward seekers, it was a routine meeting between an ex-con and his parole agent that may have cracked open the case of Bryan Stow’s beating.

Shortly before 7 on Sunday morning, a SWAT team from the Los Angeles Police Department crept into the courtyard of a dreary, run-down apartment building on Mariposa Avenue in East Hollywood. With weapons drawn, the officers made their way toward apartment 25–the rear unit on the second floor.

Snapping the quiet of the morning, they announced themselves with a loudspeaker and ordered the people inside the apartment to come out with their arms raised. Among those who emerged was Giovanni Ramirez, a stocky 31-year-old with a head shaved bald.

Ramirez was taken into custody without incident and arrested on suspicion that he was one of two men who blindsided Stow, a San Francisco Giants fan, in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium on March 31 following the season opener between the rival teams. Stow, 42, suffered brain damage in the attack and remains hospitalized.

Ramirez was booked on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon and is being held on $1 million bail. Because he is accused of kicking Stow while he was unconscious on the ground, police consider Ramirez’s foot a deadly weapon.

Police were searching for a second attacker as well as the woman who witnesses said drove the men from the stadium. Police said it appeared there was a young boy in the car.

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Ramirez, who police said is a documented member of the Varrio Nuevo Estrada street gang, has at least three prior felony convictions. According to police sources, he was convicted of attempted robbery in 1998, robbery in 1999, and firing a weapon in a public place in 2005.

With the attack garnering intense national scrutiny, Los Angeles police officials put 20 detectives on the case–an extraordinary amount of resources. Together, they worked over 6,000 hours on the case and chased nearly 650 tips, Beck said. Police detained several people for questioning, only to determine they weren’t involved. The $200,000 reward motivated many people. At least one man showed up at a police station and tried to confess to the crime, asking officers if his family would receive the money if he turned himself in, according to a police official.

Ultimately, the break in the case came from Ramirez’s parole agent, said multiple police sources who requested their names not be used because of the ongoing investigation. {snip}

According to a source with knowledge of the investigation, the parole agent met with Ramirez for a mandatory check-in meeting shortly after the attack. By then, the LAPD had released sketches of the two assailants, and the agent noticed that Ramirez bore a resemblance to one of the men.

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