The city of Inglewood has been dropped from a lawsuit filed by a San Francisco 49ers fan who was assaulted during the NFC championship game at SoFi Stadium in 2022, resulting in the victim being placed in a medically induced coma.
Plaintiff Daniel Luna’s attorneys requested the dismissal of all claims against the city in court papers filed with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa Jaskol on Thursday. The dismissal is “without prejudice,” allowing for the possibility of refiling in the future. The court documents do not indicate whether a settlement was reached or if Luna is no longer pursuing the case against the city for other reasons.
Jaskol was scheduled to hold a hearing on August 30th regarding the city’s motion to dismiss the two causes of action related to it: public employee negligence and loss of consortium by Luna’s wife, Irene Sulencka. The city argued that both allegations were “defective” and lacked sufficient grounds for relief.
Luna previously dropped Apex Security Group Inc. as a defendant on August 15th.
The Los Angeles Rams and Bryan Alexis Cifuentes, Luna’s alleged assailant, were initially named as defendants when the case was filed on September 8th of the previous year. Cifuentes has argued that he acted in self-defense during the altercation with Luna.
Luna and Sulencka filed an amended complaint on May 18th, adding the city of Inglewood and Los Angeles County as defendants. The revised suit claims that the city had a responsibility to provide designated areas, such as sobering cells or drunk tanks, for intoxicated detainees.
The updated suit also maintains that the city, along with the other defendants, is accountable for Sulencka’s loss of consortium with her spouse, including the loss of comfort, society, and companionship.
However, according to the city’s attorneys, the plaintiffs’ lawyers fail to cite any statutory basis for direct liability against the city in either cause of action. Instead, they rely on boilerplate and conclusory allegations without providing supporting material facts against the city.
The city’s attorneys argue that the plaintiffs’ failure to provide details for the cause of action regarding public employee negligence also undermines the loss of consortium allegation. They consider it to be severely deficient as a result.
The lawsuit stems from an altercation on January 30th, 2022, during the Rams-49ers game that determined the Super Bowl LVI participant (ultimately won by the Rams).
Prosecutors state that Luna approached a group of individuals outside the stadium, leading to an altercation where Cifuentes allegedly punched Luna, causing him to fall to the ground.
A security guard found Luna, who was wearing a 49ers jersey, in the parking lot and transported him to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, where he was placed in a medically induced coma due to injuries to his face and upper body.
Inglewood Mayor James Butts stated shortly after that surveillance video of the altercation revealed a group of fans tailgating in Parking Lot L, with Luna appearing to push Cifuentes 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.”
Cifuentes was eventually identified through the surveillance video, which captured the license plate of a vehicle. Following Cifuentes’ arrest, acquaintances of his told reporters that Luna was the aggressor and seemed intoxicated.
Luna’s friends stated that he traveled alone to Los Angeles and attended the game after other planned attendees canceled. Luna is the owner of Mistura, a Peruvian fusion restaurant in Oakland.
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