INGLEWOOD, Calif. (KABC) — A man’s body was found in the lake outside of SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Wednesday.
A search was initiated around 6 a.m. after the Los Angeles County Fire Department received a call from security who spotted someone in the water.
L.A. County sheriff’s deputies and Inglewood police responded to the scene and a dive team was called to search the water.
The fully dressed body of a 45-year-old man was recovered from the water just before 10 a.m.
The lake is roughly 15 to 20 feet deep.
Inglewood’s mayor later said it appeared the man had hopped several fences to get onto the property. The mayor does not believe there was anything SoFi could have done to prevent this from happening.
It is not known why the man was on the property or what exactly happened leading to his death.
LOS ANGELES (CBS SF) — Inglewood police have arrested a 33-year-old Los Angeles man for the assault of 49ers fan Daniel Luna, an attack that took place in the SoFi Stadium parking lot prior to the kickoff of the NFC Championship Game between San Francisco and the Los Angeles Rams.
Hours after he revealed investigators had surveillance video of assault, Inglewood Mayor James Butts said 33-year-old Bryan Alexis Cifuentes-Rossell had been booked for felony assault and was released on $30,000 bail.
READ MORE: 27-Year-Old Man Fatally Stabbed In San Francisco’s Mission District Identified
Police interviewed Cifuentes-Rossell at his place of work in Montebello and then he “voluntarily” accompanied them to the Inglewood police department.
Butts said investigators would be presenting the case to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office for possible charges.
“From the minute and a half of video I saw, it doesn’t look like anyone else is involved,” the mayor said when asked if he anticipated more arrests.
He later added that “the reality is this was a one shove, two shove, one punch altercation — the greatest damage was done because he (Luna) landed on the back of his head on the pavement.”
Butts said someone in the group of fans tailgating nearby did try to assist Luna.
“In the short clip I saw, someone knelt down and tried to turn him on his side,” the mayor told reporters.
Luna, a 40-year-old restaurateur from Oakland, was found by stadium security workers Sunday afternoon lying unconscious in the parking lot shortly after kickoff of the game.
He 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 and was in stable condition.
“His condition has not improved or degraded,” Butts told reporters.
During a 6 p.m. Thursday press conference on the assault, authorities announced that there was surveillance video of the incident. It showed an altercation that led to pushing between Luna and another man who is now being called a suspect.
Daniel Luna. (Mistura Restaurant)
“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,” Butts said. “There appears to have been an altercation and between Mr. Luna and a man who we now name as the suspect.”
READ MORE: Injury Accident Snarls Eastbound Traffic on Richmond San Rafael Bridge
The mayor said investigators determined Luna was mingling with a group of people primarily wearing red 49ers jerseys when he allegedly shoved a man wearing a Rams jersey from behind. 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.
Meanwhile, Luna remained hospitalized 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.
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.
MORE NEWS: Man Found Dead on East Oakland Street
SoFi Stadium is set to host Super Bowl LVI, featuring the Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals, on February 13.
INGLEWOOD (CBSLA) – A suspect has been arrested in connection with a violent assault outside SoFi Stadium during the NFC Title game last weekend which left a San Francisco 49ers fan in a coma.
An undated photo of Daniel Luna. (Facebook)
In a news conference Friday, Inglewood Mayor James Butts identified the suspect as 33-year-old Cifuentes Alexis, a resident of Los Angeles. He is charged with one felony count of assault by means to produce great bodily injury.
He was arrested Thursday, but was released from jail early Friday morning on $30,000 bail.
Butts said Alexis was identified with the help of surveillance video from SoFi Stadium. A suspect car that was seen on security video in the stadium parking lot was traced by Inglewood police to its registered owner Thursday. The owner of the car was not a suspect.
“They (investigators) left contact information (with the owner) after indicating we were trying to locate an individual involved in a potential assault on Sunday at SoFi Stadium,” Butts said.
Cifuentes Alexis. (Inglewood PD)
Alexis then called investigators while he was at his place of work in Montebello, Butts said. Officers went to his work, and he voluntarily accompanied them back to Inglewood police headquarters, where he was interviewed and arrested.
The victim, 40-year-old Oakland resident Daniel Luna, who was wearing a 49ers jersey, was found injured in Parking Lot L of SoFi Stadium in Inglewood around 4 p.m. Sunday, about 30 minutes after the start of the Rams’ 20-17 victory over the 49ers that advanced them to Super Bowl LVI.
Luna was taken to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, where he was placed in a medically induced coma with extensive injuries to his face and upper body. He remains in a coma Friday.
“His condition has not improved or degraded,” Butts said.
In a previous news conference Thursday, Butts said that, upon review of surveillance footage, investigators determined Luna was mingling with a group of people primarily wearing red 49ers jerseys when he allegedly shoved a man wearing a Rams jersey from behind.
“The suspect then retaliated by pushing Mr. Luna from behind, and then struck (him) once in the mouth area,” Butts said. “Luna then fell to the ground, where he was later found by security personnel who summoned paramedics.”
The man who punched Luna was seen in the security footage interacting with the occupants of a vehicle following the altercation before he left the scene.
Butts said Friday that following the attack, some fans tried to help Luna.
“There were other fans in that group, and at least one person, in the short clip that I saw, which is only a minute-and-a-half, bent down and tried to turn him on his side,” Butts said.
A family friend said that Luna traveled to Los Angeles and attended the game alone after other friends had canceled their plans to go with him. Luna is a chef and the owner of an Oakland restaurant called Mistura.
Butts deflected suggestions that the city and police delayed reports of Luna’s assault, claiming instead that authorities only learned of a crime occurred after reviewing the security footage.
“To be blunt about it, it looked like a small altercation that went very bad from one punch and someone hitting their head on the ground,” said Butts, a former Santa Monica Police Department chief and a deputy chief with the Inglewood Police Department.
SoFi Stadium officials issued a statement saying, “We are aware and saddened by the incident. Our thoughts are with Mr. Luna’s friends and family during this difficult time. We are working with law enforcement officials in their investigation.”
Former Los Angeles Police Department Assistant Chief Horace Frank said authorities should have been more transparent about the circumstances around Luna’s beating.
“You should have put out that information to the public because the perpetrator is a public safety hazard and a threat to the community,” Frank, who oversaw major game operations, told the Los Angeles Times. “You want to get the persons responsible for this heinous attack into custody as soon as possible.”
INGLEWOOD (CBSLA) — A San Francisco 49ers fan is in a medically induced coma after he was found outside SoFi Stadium suffering from severe injuries inflicted during the NFC Championship game against Los Angeles Rams.
(Credit: Misturapiedmont)
According to the Inglewood Police Department, the Los Angeles County fire department responded to Parking Lot L of SoFi Stadium where they found the victim, 40-year-old Oakland resident Daniel Luna.
The victim was transported to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center where medical staff said that Luna was suffering from severe injuries believed to be sustained during an assault. While in the emergency room, Luna was placed into a medically induced coma.
A 49ers spokesperson released a statement addressing the attack:
“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.”
Police do not believe any weapons were involved in the beating and believe that Luna’s attacker or attackers used bodily force to assault him.
The medical staff informed Inglewood police and after an investigation officers determined the assault happened at SoFi Stadium. In conjunction, with SoFi security, IPD is working to locate cell phone footage and has begun to review security camera video.
As of Wednesday night, police have not released any suspect description. Luna also remains in a coma.
A family friend said that Luna traveled to Los Angeles and attended the game alone after other friends had canceled their plans to go with him. Luna is a chef and the owner of an Oakland restaurant called Mistura.
A spokesperson for SoFi Stadium provided CBSLA the following statement:
“We are aware and saddened by the incident. Our thoughts are with Mr. Luna’s friends and family during this difficult time. We are working with law enforcement officials in their investigation.”
Antonnel Molett worked at SoFi Stadium as ticket taker and claimed that security was inadequate at times, especially when the Las Vegas Raiders visited. Molett claimed that the fans went “berserk.”
“They don’t have enough security,” Molett said. “They don’t have enough.”
SoFi Stadium said that the parking lots are patrolled by Hollywood Park Security Department, Inglewood Police and private security during major events.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (KGO) — When the San Francisco 49ers earned their playoff spot by beating the Rams in Los Angeles a few weeks ago, there was a sea of red and gold in the stands.
The Faithful hope and anticipate that will be the case again this weekend despite the high cost of tickets.
49ers fans are “Faithful” to the Bay and call Levi’s Stadium home.
But this weekend, fans hope they’ll be the Faithful in L.A. when the 49ers travel to take on the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship game.
RELATED: NFL Playoffs: Clutch kickers dominate in divisional-round showdowns
“It’s the red and gold nation coming in there and turning that stadium red,” 49ers fan Doug Caskey said. “That’s what they’re fearing. You can hear it from Stafford’s wife saying she was in fear of the stadium turning red. Niners fans are coming out in full force.”
The fans were certainly in full force Monday morning when the 49ers team store opened up – Fans grabbing all the red gear they can to be ready for the huge playoff game in Southern California.
“I got too much,” 49ers fan Jordan Alcocer said. “I got some nice posters, some chains. I got a whole lot. My day off and I lucked out and I had to come down here and get some stuff.”
VIDEO: 49ers upset Packers 13-10 with help from special teams, snagging bid to NFC Championship
Items were flying off the shelves about as fast as tickets are selling for this California rivalry renewed.
But it wasn’t hard to find a few fans at the store who have also already locked in their spot at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.
“Ah man, I can’t contain myself,” Caskey said. “I can’t wait. I’m counting down the days. That’s why I’m here at the Niners store to get my new jersey. I got my new Montana ’89 jersey.”
A jersey is about $150, but a ticket is costing a bit more.
After market sites are selling seats anywhere from around $700 to $3,500.
RELATED: San Francisco 49ers fans embrace deep playoff run
But with COVID cutting fan attendance last year, it was an easy decision for season ticket holder Doug Caskey to book his trip.
“Not being able to go to the game last year and not being able to see them in person, now we’ve got this year and we all missed them last year,” Caskey said. “So we’re out there in full force this year.” Faith is said to not make things easy, but make things possible.
It wasn’t easy to get here for the 49ers, but the Faithful are keeping their faith that a Super Bowl trip is possible after this weekend.
VIDEO: These Bay Area French bulldogs are the official team support animals for the Niners
“I think they’re going to keep it up and win this weekend,” 49ers fan Matthew Curayag said.
“A lot of people doubted us, but there is a God and he loves football and he loves the 49ers,” David Winton
“We’ll be there, we’ll be screaming loud,” Alcocer said. “You’ll hear us deep. Go Niners!”
Is this Faithful passion the reason tickets were not available to Bay Area fans earlier Monday?
We don’t know for sure, but what we do know is at one point, there was a notice on Ticketmaster that restricted NFC Championship tickets to those with ZIP codes in Southern California.
It was later removed from the ticketing site’s website, but fans who had previously been attempting to buy tickets received a notice saying, “Public sales to the game at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA will be restricted to residents of the Greater Los Angeles region,” and, “Residency will be based on credit card billing address at checkout.”
It appears the Rams are already afraid that the 49ers will again make SoFi Stadium their home — they’re trying to restrict ticket sales for a potential NFC title game by geography.
IMO pathetic and also premature — LA isn’t even in the title game yet pic.twitter.com/G8VmbG9muv
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) January 23, 2022
A source from the Rams said the tickets are sold out so that is why that policy is no longer in effect. The person also said the Rams have no control over how tickets are sold on the secondary market.
Ticketmaster released the following statement: “Ticketmaster works on behalf of our clients, the event organizers. Ultimately these decisions lay with them and we act at their direction.”
Follow ABC7 News as we cover the 49ers 2022 playoff run.
