Police Identify Suspect In Giants Fan Beating

LOS ANGELES (CBS/AP) — The Los Angeles police chief says a tip from a parole officer led to the arrest of one of the suspects in the attack on a San Francisco Giants fan outside Dodger Stadium after the rival teams' season opener.

At a news conference at the stadium Sunday, Chief Charlie Beck said the man arrested earlier that day is believed to be the "main aggressor" in the March 31 beating that left Bryan Stow with brain damage.

 
KNX 1070 News Radio reports on arrest in Bryan Stow beating

The suspect was later identified as Giovanni Ramirez, 31, after he was booked for assault with a deadly weapon. He's being held on $1 million bail.

Beck hailed the work of 20 full-time detectives who he said have pursued 630 leads in the case so far..

Police say Ramirez was one of two main suspects that have been sought in the case.

Our cameras shot exclusive video of SWAT officers and detectives in the Hollywood area. CBS2/KCAL9's Rachel Kim reporting from the ground says SWAT officers could be seen carrying automatic weapons and detectives sorting and looking through evidence.

"I'm just actually shaking because when the detective called me this morning… it was a little bit before 8 o'clock. He wanted to tell me the breaking news, cause he said it's gonna be on the news so he wanted us to hear it from them that they had made an arrest," Ann Stow, Bryan's mother, said in an interview with our sister station, KCBS-AM.

"I could not wait to get off the phone to call my daughters and obviously, they started sending out mass texts to all family and friends that an arrest had been made," Ann added.

Stow, a 42-year-old paramedic and father of two, is showing signs of recovery in a hospital bed at San Francisco General Hospital after being weaned off one of five anti-seizure medications since arriving there last Monday. His parents say he faces more than a year of physical and mental rehabilitation as a result of the March 31 attack.

Stow's family posted this message Sunday on their Web site "Support 4 Bryan Stow":

"We would like to start off by thanking everyone for their thoughts and prayers for Bryan's recovery. We would also like to thank LAPD for all their hard work on this case. We are overwhelmed with many emotions today, and will post further tomorrow regarding that."

Meantime, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa expressed his satisfaction upon hearing the news of the arrest.

"We're very very happy and excited," Villaraigosa said, adding, "I've said for sometime this was an absolute priority of ours. Our officers have been working day and night to find these individuals and I said back then that we would and we have."

In addition, the San Francisco Giants released the following statement:

"Today's arrest in the Bryan Stow case is welcome news in what has been a very difficult time for the Stow family. We commend the Los Angeles Police Department for their hard work and we are confident that they will continue to dedicate themselves until all of those responsible for this senseless act of violence have been brought to justice. Our thoughts and prayers remain with Bryan Stow and his family and we thank the community for its tremendous support for the Stow family during this difficult time."

Dodger and Giants fans both expressed their relief Sunday that police nabbed one of the suspected attackers.

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