Santa Cruz Sentinel
LOS ANGELES — Two men are expected to be arraigned Monday on felony charges related to the March 31 beating of Santa Cruz’ Bryan Stow at Dodger Stadium, a Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office spokesman said Friday.
Louie Sanchez, 29, and Marvin Norwood, 30, of Rialto in San Bernardino County, were charged Friday with felony mayhem, assault likely to produce great bodily injury and battery causing serious bodily injury, spokesman Matt Krasnowski said.
Sanchez also was charged with two misdemeanor counts of battery stemming from a separate incident the same day, he said, adding that he had no details on the incident. The criminal complaint alleges that victim was a woman.
The complaint alleges both men personally inflicted great bodily injury on Stow, he said.
Stow, 42, a father of two who works as a paramedic in Santa Clara County, suffered a severe skull fracture when he was beaten and kicked by two men in the stadium parking lot following the season opener between the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Stow was in a medically induced coma for weeks and continues to suffer setbacks in his recovery. He underwent emergency surgery Monday at San Francisco General Hospital.
There was encouraging news on his health Friday.
His sister, Erin Collins of Scotts Valley, said Stow has made more progress in the past day or so than he has since the attack, surprising his medical team.
“He is mouthing words to everyone, somehow,” Collins said. “It’s unbelievable.”
As for the arrest, the family was not told about it, she said.
Los Angeles police arrested a Los Angeles area parolee weeks ago, Giovanni Ramirez, and said he was their primary suspect. He was not charged, but sent back to prison for 10 months on a parole violation after detectives found a gun while searching a residence where he was staying.
An arrest helps, Collins said Friday.
“It helped the first time too, and we had a press conference and were happy about it, but we still don’t understand what happened,” she said. “And I don’t even know if [Ramirez] has been exonerated or not.”
Before the charges were announced, Collins said she was hoping for an attempted murder charge. A short while later, Krasnowski said he could not discuss the reasoning behind the charges.
If convicted, Sanchez faces a maximum prison term of nine years and Norwood faces a possible eight years, prosecutors said.
The Los Angeles Police Department called a press conference Friday to discuss the latest arrests.
Some news report said a woman was also arrested, as an accessory, which is in line with police statements that a woman drove the men from the stadium that day.
But the District Attorney’s Office said she was not charged; it’s unclear if they are still considering charges.
Sanchez and Norwood were arrested by Los Angeles police at their San Bernardino County homes early Thursday, the District Attorney’s Office said. They are being held on $500,000 bail each.
Detectives with the Los Angeles Police Department’s Robbery Homicide Division launched a investigation into the Dodger Stadium attack at the instruction of Chief Charlie Beck, the District Attorney’s Office stated.
“The Los Angeles Police Department never gave up on this case,” District Attorney Steve Cooley said. “The experienced prosecutors assigned to the case will present the evidence in the courtroom, where ultimate decisions will be made.”
Brian Stow Has shown improvement since being moved to San Francisco.
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