Five days after an attack on a San Francisco Giants fan in the Dodger Stadium parking lot, the Los Angeles City Council voted to double the reward offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction to $100,000.
Two men are suspected of attacking 42-year old Bryan Stow in the parking lot after Thursday’s game against the Giants. Stow is still in a Los Angeles hospital, lying in a medically induced coma. The Giants will dedicate their home opener on April 8th to Stow and will collect donations to help assist his family.
The original $50,000 reward was made up of $10,000 donations from L.A. City Supervisor Mike Antonovich and the Giants, a $5,000 donation from American Medical Response (who employed Stow as a paramedic) and a matching $25,000 donation from the Dodgers.
One L.A. city councilman has called the incident a “black eye” for the city. It’s also another black eye for embattled Dodger owner Frank McCourt, whose finances are um..distressed as he goes through an ugly divorce. Now he’s drawing the attention of local politicians who are demanding tighter alcohol policing and a greater team investment in stadium security.
McCourt hasn’t helped himself by coming off as insensitive.
“You could have 2,000 policemen there, and it’s just not going to change that random act of violence,” McCourt said Saturday.
The team was already catching criticism for being slow in offering money for either assistance or an award; the Dodgers didn’t announce that they were donating $25,0000 until Monday night and the fund already stood at $25,000. Now the city council has doubled what the team put in and has challenged the owner to match that $50,000, you get the sense that this is far from over.