A suspect was arrested in connection with the assault on Oakland chef Daniel Luna outside the Rams' stadium in Inglewood on Sunday during the NFC Championship game, which has put Luna in a medically induced coma.
As ABC 7 reports, Inglewood Mayor James Butts gave a press conference Thursday announcing that Inglewood police had made an arrest in Montebello, a city in Los Angeles County just east of East L.A. The suspect has not been publicly named, but he was identified in surveillance video of the attack on Luna, and was apparently wearing a Rams jersey at the time.
Update: The suspect has been identified as Bryan Alexis Cifuentes Rossell of Montebello. He has reportedly been released on $30,000 bail.
The video is not being released.
Butts said, in the video, "It looked like a small altercation that went very bad" between Luna and the suspect, though the video is "very blurry," he said. Luna was among a group of predominantly 49ers fans, though he appeared to just be wearing a white jersey.
The scuffle happened amid the crowd, and the video suggests that Luna may have shoved the suspect first, after which the suspect pushes Luna from behind, and then punches him once in the mouth, knocking Luna to the ground.
"This incident occurred in less than five seconds," Mayor Butts said. "Mr. Luna pushes someone from behind. That person, when Mr. Luna turns away, pushes him, takes another step towards him and punches him, looks like in the mouth area. Mr. Luna falls back on his head."
Luna was later found by security, and he was put into a medically induced coma before he could be interviewed by police. He remains at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center with an intracranial bleed.
The 49ers issued a statement Thursday saying, "What happened to Daniel Luna is reprehensible, and we strongly condemn all violence. We know local authorities in Los Angeles are conducting a full investigation and we’re here to support them however we can. Our thoughts and prayers go to Mr. Luna, his family, friends, and the medical team providing him care."
Luna is the chef-owner of Mistura, a Peruvian restaurant on Piedmont Avenue in Oakland. As SFist reported Thursday, the restaurant remains temporarily closed.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help with Luna's medical bills.
The story harkens back to what happened to Bryan Stow, the Giants fan who was left with permanent disabilities after a 2011 beating by Dodgers fans while at a game in LA.
Previously: Oakland Chef and 49ers Fan Suffered Horrific Beatdown at Rams’ Stadium, Now in Medically Induced Coma
