Posted on 04/23/2005 9:48:47 AM PDT by SmithL
A San Ramon man is not expected to survive a severe head injury he received in a fight outside Arco Arena after Wednesday's Sacramento Kings basketball game, an incident investigators say may have been fueled by road rage.
Sacramento police said Mark Leidheisl, 39, a regional senior vice president for Wells Fargo, may have been the aggressor in the confrontation.
Family and friends describe Leidheisl as a dedicated family man, a leader at work and a generally quiet guy. But police spokesman Sgt. Justin Risley said witnesses described Leidheisl's behavior at Wednesday's game as "aggressive" and "bizarre." He did not want to elaborate, saying it could taint further witness statements.
Risley said the confrontation was apparently sparked when Leidheisl cut off another vehicle leaving the stadium parking lot.
Leidheisl, a friend and the occupants of the other vehicle stopped and got out of their cars on a nearby street. Police said Leidheisl was then punched, fell down and struck his head on the pavement. He remained in a coma Friday at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. A nursing supervisor said he was in critical condition.
The two other men involved in the confrontation, 43- and 44-year-old residents of Lodi, called police Thursday after they saw news reports about how seriously Leidheisl was hurt, said police spokesman Sgt. Justin Risley.
The men, who were not named, were not arrested. Police will forward the case to prosecutors to determine if charges should be filed. Sacramento County District Attorney's Office spokeswoman Lana Wyant said it would be late next week at the earliest before a decision is made.
"There'll be a lot of questions to answer," Wyant said.
Risley said the incident began about 10 p.m. Wednesday as fans left the arena. The Kings had beaten the Phoenix Suns 132-107 in the last game of the season before the playoffs.
Risley said that as fans were leaving Arco's parking lots, Leidheisl, driving a Mercedes-Benz, cut off the Lodi men, who were in an Infiniti sport utility vehicle. Leidheisl, his friend and the two Lodi men stopped on a side road. Leidheisl was punched in the head, fell and hit his head on the pavement. The Lodi men left; Leidheisl's friend dialed 911.
"This was not a continual beating," Risley said.
Patti Leidheisl, the injured man's former sister-in-law, said Friday that she was stunned by the news. She described Mark Leidheisl as a usually quiet, clean-cut guy who neither smokes nor drinks and is a leader at work.
She had heard accounts of strange behavior at the game and had a hard time picturing it.
"He's like the shining star of the family, so dedicated to his job," the San Jose woman said. "It's so out of character, I can't believe what happened."
Neighbors of Mark Leidheisl's wife, Holly, said she and 12-year-old son Taylor moved in a little over a year earlier, as the couple were getting divorced. Mark Leidheisl bought a separate house in San Ramon, Patti Leidheisl said.
Jeff Jaye, communications director for the San Ramon Soccer Club, said Mark Leidheisel has been an assistant coach for the Strike Force, a team of mostly 14-year-olds for which Leidheisl's son plays. Jaye said that two years ago, when the team members were about 12 years old, Mark Leidheisel helped coach them to the state championships.
He, too, said Mark Leidheisel is not a violent person.
"I have never witnessed anything close to resembling that," Jaye said. "It was one of those wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time incidents."
Jaye said though the outlook is not good, friends and family are maintaining hope that Mark Leidheisel will pull through. "We're hoping for a miracle, all of his friends, family and colleagues."
Update to a sad story ping.
From the way he fell it sounds like the ground gave him the same kind of whack a hangman's know would have done. Shows why it's almost never a good idea to get out of your vehicle in a road rage incident.
There's clearly a lot missing between "he cut them off" and "they all got out of their cars." No one has to start a fight because they've been slighted on the road. That being said, we don't really know what happened but it should be a lesson for everyone about temper.
Amen have some sanity. Some people will press you to the edge.
The rage existed before the incident.
Wednesday's incident began when Leidheisl, driving a Mercedes-Benz with a male passenger, was leaving the parking lot after the Kings' final regular- season game. There was some sort of traffic run-in between Leidheisl and the occupants of a black Infiniti sport utility vehicle, Lazark said, and the SUV followed the Mercedes out of the lot onto Truxel Drive.
The occupants of the two vehicles continued to taunt each other, and Leidheisl turned onto Prosper Drive, a residential street, followed by the SUV. The occupants of both vehicles got out and were yelling at each other, although the passenger in Leidheisl's car "did not want to engage in the physical confrontation," Lazark said.
Leidheisl and at least one occupant of the SUV traded punches in "a mutual combat situation,'' Lazark said. Leidheisl was hit with a fist in the side of the head and fell to the ground.
Lazark said it was not clear whether the blow to the head or the fall on the pavement had caused what she called the "nonsurvivable" injury.
The two Lodi men left the scene but voluntarily went to police Thursday with their attorneys, Lazark said. They have been "very cooperative" and were released as the investigation continued. The Sacramento County district attorney's office will decide whether to file charges against them.
It does leave out a lot of details. First, Leidheisl cuts off the SUV driver in a parking lot, and then both parties drove to a side ride, where they got out to argue/fight. The Lodi SUV driver presumably got mad in the parking lot and followed Leidheisl afterwards, but hasn't been charged for hitting him. I'm a little confused, I thought self-defense would be the Lodi drivers' only justification for hitting him, but the report is rather sketchy.
Sorry, I hadn't read your post #7 before posting #8.
Thanks for the update. It will be interesting to see if there was alchohol involved.
I always thought Kings' fans would use more of a scratch and slap style of fighting.
Thanks for the update and the *ping*!
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