Los Angeles Police Arrest Suspect in Beating of Brian Stow

It wasn't quite Navy Seal Team 6 clipping Osama Bin Laden, but we received great news on Sunday when Los Angeles police announced they had the key suspect in the Bryan Stow case in custody. Just before 7 A.M. on Sunday morning, an LAPD swat team raided a run down apartment in east Hollywood.  LAPD is convinced they nabbed their man, 31 year old Giovanni Ramirez.

Ramirez is an ex-con and lifer in the Los Angeles gang scene.  After weeks of bad tips and dead ends, Ramirez's parole officer may have been the one that finally did him in.  Shortly after the Stow beating, Ramirez's parole officer noticed a strong resemblance between Ramirez and the police sketch of the suspects.  Police became convinced when eye-witnesses of the beating picked a photograph of Ramirez out of a stack of photos.

Ramirez is charged with assault with a deadly weapon.  The police deem Ramirez's foot a weapon because he continued to kick Stow while he was unconscious on the ground.  Police are still looking for Ramirez's male accomplice and the female who drove the get away car.

In the weeks since the savage beating, Stow has been transferred to a hospital in San Francisco.  Stow's doctors said he has opened his eyes, but his long term recovery is far from certain.  Stow's family and friends may never get the Bryan Stow they knew before the beating, but the apprehension of the key suspect will aid the grieving process.

At the risk of turning into a pop psychologist, what would ever compel someone to beat someone within inches of his life because he was wearing the jersey of a rival team?  Rivalry's between teams and fans are part of what makes sports exciting and gives us conflict.  It is vital these rivalry's remain healthy and never escalate past good natured ribbing.

The Stow case was hopefully the final straw for Angelinos and the Dodger organization to try and take Dodger Stadium back from the gang members that have infiltrated a healthy portion of the fan base.  It is no longer a dirty little secret that there is an unsavory element prevalent at Dodger's home games.  The presence of uniformed police officers at Dodger Stadium since the Stow beating will hopefully make people think twice before resorting to senseless violence.

Information from the Los Angeles Times was used in this post.