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The Angels fan brutally beaten in the parking lot of Angel Stadium after a playoff game on Friday night has been identified as a former LAPD officer and veteran.The victim was identified by neighbors as Alex Arredondo, 43, of Huntington Beach, KTLA reports. He was described as a U.S. Marine veteran, an LAPD officer until 2012 and father of three, City News Service reports.
Arredondo was walking with a cousin in the parking lot after the game let out around 10:30 p.m on Friday, when three men attacked him apparently without provocation. Witnesses alerted police officers in the parking lot. The badly beaten man in critical condition was taken to the UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange. He was on life support but his condition was upgraded to "serious" today. He's expected to survive.
No witnesses could offer any clues about why the victim was targeted. They said both the victim and suspect were dressed in Angels gear. Lt. Bob Dunn told City News Service, "There was nothing to suggest an argument began inside of the game or a fan rivalry." Dunn added that it "appears alcohol was a factor."
A woman named Sandra witnessed the beating with her 15-year-old daughter Morgan, and she told ABC 7 that the attack seemed to come out of nowhere: "The guy ran up on him from behind. No shouting, nothing, it was just really quick, 'boom, boom, boom,' and then the guy went down. He got him really good and then he ran off."
It happened so fast that neither of them were able to get a good look at the man who beat him or the two other men that ran off with him.
Neighbors said they were shocked Arredondo was the victim. Spencer Gilpatrick told KTLA, "Such a nice guy. I don’t see anything confrontational with him at all. It was a real shock."
The Angels released a statement saying, "the safety and fan experience is the focus of our organization. It's an unfortunate incident. We wish the gentleman and his family the best. We hope that the investigation will unfold the way it should." The team said they do their best to improve security for fans and said "that night, the response was immediate."
The Dodgers found themselves on the hook for $14 million after the brutal 2011 beating of Bryan Stow. Giants fan Stow filed a suit claiming that security was inadequate the night of the beating.
Eds. note: This post has been edited to include updates.
