By Stephen Baxter and Cathy Kelly
San Jose Mercury News
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — A close friend of attacked Giants fan Bryan Stow said Thursday he received a text message from Stow during the game that amounts to an eerie foreshadow of his beating.
At 7:03 p.m., Stow wrote “It’s F-ing scary in here” to Danny Simon, his Live Oak roommate.
Simon has known Stow for more than 20 years, and he and others talked about violence at Dodger Stadium with Stow before the attack. Stow, a 42-year-old paramedic in San Jose, often traveled to Giants away games and attended spring training. He was supposed to return home April 1, the day after his attack, Simon said.
“He had tickets to go to a (San Jose) SaberCats game with his kids,” Simon said.
The unused tickets still lay in their house, he said.
Stow was attacked March 31 in a Dodger Stadium parking lot by two men wearing Dodgers attire, police said. Stow was wearing a Giants jersey, and witnesses told authorities that the men who attacked him were drunk.
In response to the attack, security will be heightened at future Los Angeles Dodgers home games, Los Angeles police said.
“You’re going to see a sea of blue, but it’s not going to be Dodgers blue. It’s going to be LAPD blue,” Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said Thursday. “This is going to be a game-changer.”
Beck asked the team to pay for the deployment of uniformed officers and was negotiating the amount with team officials.
Stow’s family and sympathizers held a candlelight vigil Wednesday night outside the medical center where Stow is hospitalized.
Stow remained in critical condition Thursday, and doctors returned him to a medically induced coma to limit seizures, said Bryan’s father, John Stow of Santa Cruz.
“Bryan is pretty much in the same condition that he has been,” he said Thursday afternoon.
Stow is being treated at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center for a severe skull fracture. He was in a medically induced coma, but had been taken out of the coma in the past few days.
Stow suffered from seizures Wednesday night, so doctors returned him to a coma, John Stow said.
“Bryan is going to be in an induced coma over the next three days,” John Stow said late Thursday.
Stow’s family has been “overwhelmed” with support, he said.
“We’re just so honored that our community has rallied to Bryan’s aid and (the aid of) all our family. We just would like to say thank you to everyone who has had him in their prayers,” Stow said.
Simon, Bryan’s housemate, spearheaded a silent auction and benefit event for Bryan Stow set for 7 to 11 p.m. Monday at El Palomar Restaurant in Santa Cruz. Merchants donated items to be auctioned, and he said more items had been donated in recent days.
“The outpouring of support is phenomenal,” Simon said.
Spiritual support also has been abundant.
About 200 people attended a prayer service for Stow at St. John’s Catholic Church in Felton Wednesday night, the Rev. Michael Cross said.
Stow served as an altar boy when Cross was pastor of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Capitola years ago, he said. And his mother worked as Cross’ secretary in the Capitola and Felton parishes, he said.
“Bryan is a very delightful person,” he said. “As a paramedic, he has not only dedicated his life to care for people, he’s never gotten into a fight in his life. And he didn’t stand a chance in that fight.”
About $6,000 was donated Wednesday to a fund established to help with his medical and rehabilitation services, he said.
“There’s been a tremendous response from all kinds of organizations,” Cross said, mentioning the Giants and the mayor of Los Angeles. “In his present condition, it’s going to be extremely costly. And he’ll probably never be the same.”
Cross said he spoke Wednesday about how the virtues of the mother are reflected in her son. And he talked about emotions that might arise after such a cruel attack.
“We have a tendency to not only become angry, but to become vindictive,” he said. “But the whole atmosphere of the Stow family is one of forgiveness.”
Stow is a divorced father of two who often worked 60-hour weeks, Simon said. Friends described him as mellow and not a fighter.
John Stow, Bryan’s father, said he hoped security at ballparks would be improved.
He said other ballparks should take a cue from AT&T Park’s ubiquitous, brightly clad security guards.
“It took a terrible tragedy like this to see inadequacy in their security,” John Stow said. “There’s nothing wrong with having a great friendly rivalry, but when it turns to violence -- there’s no place,” he said.
“There’s no place for thugs in this. This is our pastime.”
The Giants will dedicate Friday’s home opener at AT&T Park in San Francisco to Stow and pay tribute to him in a ceremony before the game.
David Collins, Stow’s brother-in-law in Scotts Valley, said Thursday that he continued to receive updates on Stow’s condition.
“We still have a long way to go, we all acknowledge that,” Collins said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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