A 23-year-old man from L.A. County has been arrested in connection with the brutal beating of a woman from Arizona at a sold-out concert at Rose Bowl Stadium.
The violence reportedly broke out over a spilled drink at the Aug. 16 show headlined by the Grammy Award-winning electronic band RÜFÜS DU SOL.
The primary victim, who did not want to be identified, told KTLA that she and her friends, including her fiancé, drove for hours from Phoenix to get to the show and that when she and a friend were walking to their seats, one of them accidentally spilled a bit of a drink on a man.
“We apologized immediately, but he yelled that it was intentional and ran off, leaving his companion behind,” she told The Festive Owl, a music news outlet. “We apologized to her and thought it was over.”
It was about a half hour later, according to the woman, that the man, now identified as Hawthorne resident Julio Cesar Lopez Zavala, approached the victim and her friends and began screaming and threatening violence.
While she was trying to deescalate the situation, Zavala allegedly punched her in the face, knocked her unconscious and caused serious bleeding.
In footage of the attack that when viral, the 23-year-old man is seen launching into a group of people and throwing at least five punches, while someone behind him attempts to pull him out of the crowd. At one point in the video, the woman can be seen sitting on the ground, head tilted down as her fiancé, who also reportedly took some blows to the head, attempted to shield her.
In a statement posted to the band’s Instagram account, RÜFÜS DU SOL called the incident “completely unacceptable” and said they were “heartbroken to hear of the act of violence that took place during the opening act.”
The incident also prompted criticism of the Rose Bowl’s security protocols and the venue’s management of the nearly 90,000-person crowd at the concert.
“Among the long laundry list of complaints was crowd crushing in tunnels, people pushing in overcrowded stairs, aggressive drunk people, arguments, fans blocking exits, incredibly long shuttle lines, and, sadly, assault,” the independent Los Angeles-based music blog Grimy Goods reported.
Christine Molina, who attended the concert with her daughter and was seated a few rows behind the victim and her friends told KTLA she saw people openly doing drugs and wondered if crush of the huge crowd mixed with drug and alcohol use was a factor in the violent beating.
“I’ve never seen any venue that has allowed the people to stand there in the walkways. It’s a hazard,” she said. “There were multiple security vendors working the venue. It wasn’t just one vendor, it was multiples, and the left hand didn’t know what the right hand was doing.”
Police were called and responded to the venue at around 8:30 p.m. that evening, though Zavala’s arrest in Hawthorne didn’t occur until Aug. 21.
Investigators credited video footage and tips from the public that led to his identification and arrest.
“Formal charges are pending review by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office,” police officials said in a news release.
As for the victim who is back home in Arizona, she said she was seriously bruised and sore, though she was expected to make a full recovery.
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