Soccer Fan Charges Police Beat Him at Galaxy Match

A Los Angeles Galaxy soccer fan who said that Pasadena police officers knocked him out, dragged him from the Rose Bowl bleachers and uttered a racial slur said Thursday that he will file a lawsuit against the department.

Victor Aguilar, 23, his family, his attorneys and Latino activists gathered outside the Rose Bowl on Thursday and called for an investigation into his arrest for disturbing the peace at a professional soccer game last Sunday.

“Like an animal was the way I was treated,” Aguilar said. “It was racist. Most everyone there was Hispanic.”

His attorney, Cynthia Anderson-Barker, said there are witnesses to the incident and that a claim will be filed against the Pasadena Police Department this week as a precursor to a lawsuit alleging assault and battery, emotional distress and violation of Aguilar’s constitutional rights.

Cmdr. Mary Schander said the department is launching a formal investigation into the allegations, but that neither Aguilar nor his attorney has contacted the department. The city declined to release the police report until its attorney reviews it.

Aguilar was arrested for fighting and was among about 20 fans detained by a police unit, she said, after objects including bottles and batteries were thrown at officers.

Shortly after the kickoff, a series of brawls broke out in the south end zone bleachers. As police in riot gear waded into the crowd near his family, Aguilar said, he tried to shield his 5-year-old niece when officers “jumped on him.”

“My head was injured, and when I was being taken down the steps, one of the officers shoved me and I hit my head and fell to the floor,” he said.

Alfonso C. Castro, a freelance photographer who was at the game, said he saw an officer push the shirtless Aguilar in the back. Aguilar fell and hit his head on a metal railing and collapsed on the floor, Castro said.

“I yelled this man is bleeding. He is unconscious,” Castro said. “They left him laying in the tunnel.”

Aguilar said all he remembers is being violently shaken by an officer as he lapsed in and out of consciousness in the tunnel.