A woman is suing the Rose Bowl after she was knocked unconscious by a fellow spectator during a sold out concert in August.
The attack reportedly occurred over a partially spilled drink during a RÜFÜS DU SOL performance at the California venue.
Video of the attack shows a young man turning around and beating Shelby Lynn Elston after she reportedly spilled a bit of her drink on him.
“We apologized immediately, but he yelled that it was intentional and ran off, leaving his companion behind,” she told The Festive Owl, which covers music and festival news. “We apologized to her and thought it was over.”
Julio Cesar Lopez Zavala, 23, the man accused of beating Elston, initially left the area but returned approximately a half an hour later and began screaming at Elston and her party.
Elston said she tried to deescalate the situation by apologizing, but says Zavala punched her in the face, knocking her unconscious and causing her to bleed.
The video shows the man believed to be Zavala throwing at least five punches during the assault. Elston can be seen collapsed onto the ground while her fiancé attempted to shield her. He also suffered blows to the head during the ordeal.
Andrew Talebi, the attorney representing the couple, told the Los Angeles Times that at one point during the attack Elston stopped breathing. Her fiancé reportedly had to perform CPR to restart her breathing.
Both were treated by paramedics at the venue.
By the time police arrived at the scene, Zavala had left the area. He was only identified thanks to internet tipsters who responded to Elston and the Festive Owl’s calls for assistance to identify her attacker.
Zavala was eventually arrested on August 21. He has pleaded not guilty to a pair of felony assault counts.
Immediately after the attack, Elston accused the Rose Bowl of having insufficient security to manage the sold-out crowd at the venue that night.
She is now suing the Rose Bowl Operating Company in the LA County Superior Court, alleging that the venue “negligently managed, administered, and provided security services at the Rose Bowl and so negligently treated patrons such that Zavala was permitted to violently assault plaintiffs for several minutes without any security guards intervening to protect plaintiffs from further harm.,” according to KTLA.
The complaint also alleges that the Rose Bowl failed to provide enough security to prevent the attack, which left Elston with physical injuries as well as “mental anguish, past and future pain and suffering, and past and future medical expenses.”
“The Rose Bowl should be a place where patrons can come and feel safe enjoying an outing with friends and family, yet the venue failed miserably in its negligence,” Talebi told KTLA.
Lisa Derderian, a spokesperson for the city of Pasadena, told the LA Times that there was no excuse for violence, but that she believed the incident was a “one-off” and that the Rose Bowl has consistently maintained a “robust police, private security, medical, fire, and fire prevention staff on site that is tailored to meet the needs of the crowd.”
The lawsuit is seeking both compensatory and punitive damages, which are to be decided at trial.
