LOS ANGELES (KPIX) — New details surfaced Thursday night in the police investigation into the brutal beating of a 49er fan from the Bay Area who attended the NFC Championship Game in Los Angeles last Sunday after police confirmed they have video of the incident.
40-year-old Daniel Luna of Oakland was found Sunday afternoon severely injured in the SoFi Stadium parking lot from an apparent beating, shortly after kickoff of Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams.
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Luna was transported to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, where ER staff determined that he suffered injuries they believed to be from an assault, police said. He was placed in a medically-induced coma due to the severity of his injuries.
During a 6 p.m. press conference on the assault, authorities announced that there was surveillance video of the incident.
Police are combing through the security video that shows an altercation in a parking lot that led to pushing between Luna and another man who is now being called a suspect.
“IPD detectives have now located video which depicts Mr. Luna mingling with a group of other fans in the parking lot. The overwhelming majority of these fans were wearing red 49ers jerseys,” said Inglewood Mayor James Butts during the press conference. “There appears to have been an altercation and between Mr. Luna and a man who we now name as the suspect.”
The mayor said the whole encounter lasted about five seconds, ending after one of the people involved was seen striking the other in the mouth.
“Mr. Luna fell to the ground, where he was later found by security personnel, who summoned paramedics,” Butts continued. “The suspect was wearing a Rams jersey.”
Police said the surveillance video isn’t clear enough to recognize faces. Currently, police are not releasing it.
Police are also looking into a vehicle that was identified in the video by its license plate, though authorities are not certain if it was the suspect’s vehicle. Police are not releasing information on the vehicle at this time, but did confirm they trying to locate the vehicle and interview the owner
Luna remains at UCLA Medical Center Thursday night with facial fractures and brain swelling.
Luna and his wife own Mistura, a Peruvian restaurant on Piedmont Avenue in Oakland. The restaurant is closed indefinitely because Luna remains in a coma.
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The question family and friends are asking is why and how the assault happened. Friends say there would be no reason to hurt Luna.
Logan Peters is a friend who works near Luna’s restaurant.
“I’m speechless. It’s heartbreaking. I could never have guessed it would happen to him or he would purposely do anything that would make something like that happen,” said Peters.
49ers fan Jesse Mendez who attended the game told KPIX he could sense tensions rising at the stadium that made him concerned for his safety.
“You are basically in enemy territory,” said Mendez. “I told everybody when I walked back over to our group, I said, “From here on out nobody goes anywhere unless we have two or three people with us.”
It also raises concerns about security at the stadium less than two weeks before the Super Bowl in less than two weeks.
The 49er’s released a statement saying, “What happened to Daniel Luna is reprehensible, and we strongly condemn all violence. We know local authorities 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.”
The attack is similar to the 2011 beating of Bryan Stow, a San Francisco Giants fan who was attacked outside Dodgers Stadium on Opening Day more than ten years ago. He survived, but has severe brain damage.
Peters noted what a kind and generous person Luna is.
“He would see us walking past and hand out couple of empanadas and offer them to us on our way to the bus stop,” said Logan Peters.
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SoFi Stadium is set to host Super Bowl LVI, featuring the Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals, on February 13.
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