Arizona woman beaten unconscious by man at concert sues Rose Bowl

An Arizona woman who was knocked unconscious by an irate 23-year-old man at a sold-out Rose Bowl concert in August is suing the venue.  

The violence reportedly broke out over a partially spilled drink at the Aug. 16 show headlined by the Grammy Award-winning electronic band RÜFÜS DU SOL.  

Shelby Lynn Elston, her fiancé Cain Webb and some friends drove hours from Phoenix to see the band. As Elston and a friend climbed the steps to their seats in the packed venue, they accidentally spilled a bit of a drink on a man in front of them.  

“We apologized immediately, but he yelled that it was intentional and ran off, leaving his companion behind,” she told The Festive Owl, a music news outlet. “We apologized to her and thought it was over.”   

Unfortunately, the male concertgoer, later identified as Julio Cesar Lopez Zavala, returned about a half hour later.  

The 23-year-old reportedly screamed at Elston and her friends and threatened violence. The Phoenix resident said she tried deescalating the situation by apologizing again and that’s when he punched her in the face, knocking her unconscious and causing significant bleeding.   

In footage of the violent attack, the Zavala is allegedly seen launching into a group of people and throwing at least five punches, while someone behind him attempts to pull him out of the crowd.   

At one point in the video, Elston can be seen sitting on the ground, head tilted down as her fiancé, who also reportedly suffered blows to the head, attempted to shield her.   

The couple’s attorney, Andrew Talebi, told the Los Angeles Times that at one point during the assault, Elston stopped breathing and was carried out of their seats by Cain who performed CPR to get her to start breathing again. 

Both were later treated by paramedics.  

Officers with the Pasadena Police Department responded to the Rose Bowl, though Zavala had already fled the area and, likely, the venue. According to investigators, it was video footage of the assault and tips from the public that led to the 23-year-old’s arrest in Hawthorne on Aug. 21.

Zavala, who is also being sued by the couple for battery, pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of assault on Aug. 25.  

The suit against the Rose Bowl Operating Company was filed Oct. 1 in Los Angeles County Superior Court and alleges that the venue “negligently managed, administered, and provided security services at the Rose Bowl and so negligently treated patrons such that Zavala was permitted to violently assault plaintiffs for several minutes without any security guards intervening to protect plaintiffs from further harm.” 

The complaint further accuses the Rose Bowl Operating Company of failing to have enough security in place to prevent the violent assault, which left Elston suffering from physical injuries, “mental anguish, past and future pain and suffering, and past and future medical expenses.”  

“The Rose Bowl should be a place where patrons can come and feel safe enjoying an outing with friends and family, yet the venue failed miserably in its negligence,” Talebi said in a statement provided to KTLA.  

On Instagram, RÜFÜS DU SOL acknowledged the violent incident, saying in a statement: 

“Delivering moments for our fans to gather and celebrate safely is what we live for. We have been heartbroken to hear of the act of violence that took place during the opening act on Saturday. This type of behavior is completely unacceptable anywhere and the fact that this happened at one of our shows was devastating to learn about.” 

Shortly after the incident, Pasadena spokesperson Lisa Derderian told The Times that while there was no excuse for the violence, they believe the attack was a “one-off” and that the Rose Bowl has always maintained a “robust police, private security, medical, fire and fire prevention staff on site that is tailored to meet the needs of the crowd.”  

Asked for comment about the lawsuit today, Derderian told the outlet that the stadium cannot comment on pending litigation.  

Elston and Webb’s lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages to be decided at trial.