Posted on 07/12/2005 11:01:29 AM PDT by Millee
The justice system has already decided what happened to Jeff Black and his 9-year-old son during a 2004 Colorado Rockies game:
Two men pleaded guilty to assaulting them.
So the Rockies' recent attempt to write off these two fans' violence as a "beer-spilling incident" plays about as well as the team does on the road.
It's a loser.
It will remain a loser, even if the Rockies win a lawsuit Black has filed to force the team to change the way it deals with alcohol sales and protects fans.
Black's suit, filed in April and updated last week, seeks "a court order requiring the Rockies to establish and implement a five-year plan designed to monitor alcohol sales and to provide adequate security for children and adults" as well as unspecified financial damages.
"My primary concern," Black said, "is that what happened to us should not happen to anyone."
What happened, according to Black, is that the Rockies' unwillingness to remove fans from the ballpark let Ethan Chumley and Steven Shideler attack Black and his son three times. According to the suit, the first assault came after Black asked the men to stop cursing. The second and third assaults came after Black asked Rockies' ushers to deal with the situation when the men continued their filthy talk, the suit says.
All the while, Black claims, Coors Field concessionaires sold Shideler and Chumley beer.
On Friday, the Rockies released its version of events but would not discuss policies for dealing with alcohol and fans.
"As always, our primary concern is for the safety and security of our guests at Coors Field," said a statement. "Unfortunately, due to pending litigation, we are unable to comment further."
Black has plenty to say about what happened on April 14, 2004.
The men "were talking loudly, using vulgar and profane language," he said. "I said, 'Hey, guys, I have a 9-year-old here.' They started talking about sex with fat women. One of them called my son a girl."
Black's suit charges that this happened within view of ushers who didn't intervene until Black went to them for help. As an usher approached, Chumley moved away, Black said. Police at the top of the stairs warned Chumley he had "one more chance," the Rockies said.
"A few minutes later, this guy (Chumley) is back with a fresh cup of beer," Black said. "I waved at the usher and said, 'Hey, he can't be here."'
Neither could Shideler. Turns out they were in the wrong seats.
As the men were led away, Chumley said he had left his cellphone behind.
"He came back and dumped a full beer on me and my son and knocked me into the seats in front of me," Black said. "My son was crying and hysterical. Women sitting around us brought napkins to help dry us off. We moved over two seats where it wasn't wet."
Finally, Chumley was ejected from the ballpark.
Black told his son to focus on the ballgame. He thought their ordeal was over.
But 15 minutes later, as Black and his son stood for the seventh-inning stretch, a second cup of beer struck Black in the head and doused his son, who burst into tears again. Black turned and saw Shideler standing behind him. Shideler, too, had bought more alcohol.
"He snuck back down," Black said. "People flew out of their seats and started beating the crap out of him."
Police broke up the fight and asked Black if he wanted to press charges.
"Absolutely," he said.
When Black spied Chumley outside the stadium talking on a cellphone, he asked police to arrest Chumley also.
It was, Black decided, the only way the assaults were going to stop.
"It was like waves of attacks," said Black, who has been counseled for post-traumatic stress along with his son.
Black's lawyer, Jim Abrams, said the Rockies have refused to let a mediator help settle the suit.
"Fan violence is an international problem," Abrams said. "The main thing (Black) is seeking is to change the rules. To trivialize this as a 'beer-spilling incident' is outrageous."
Chumley and Shideler, who later pleaded guilty to assault, could not be reached for comment.
"This was malicious," said John Redmond, the assistant city attorney, who prosecuted them.
A Denver judge who sentenced Chumley and Shideler to suspended jail sentences, community service and anger-management classes obviously agreed.
Not the Rockies.
"This case involves a public beer spilling incident at a baseball game, not allegations of any private or embarrassing events," the team said in a legal filing.
Right. And I can hit like Todd Helton.
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