Palos Verdes Estate's Man's Arraignment for Dodger Stadium Brawl Postponed

PALOS VERDES ESTATES, CA - A Palos Verdes Estates man charged with assaulting a man at Dodger Stadium last year made his first court appearance Friday.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Sergio C. Tapia II allowed Michael Rae Papayans, 27, to remain free on $30,000 bail, but ordered him to turn over his passport.

Papayans is due back in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom March 25 for arraignment, which was postponed at the request of defense attorney Louis Sepe.

MORE COVERAGE:

• Man Charged in Dodger Stadium Attack

Papayans was charged Feb. 18 with a felony count of assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury, with an allegation that he caused great bodily injury. The victim was allegedly knocked unconscious and suffered serious head injuries in a parking lot at Dodger Stadium after a Dodgers-Mets game last October.

Papayans is accused of punching a 50-year-old man in the head, knocking him unconscious following the Oct. 9 game, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

As the man fell to the ground, he struck his head on the pavement, causing him to sustain serious head injuries, prosecutors said.

Papayans' mother allegedly kicked the man in the back while he was on the ground, according to the District Attorney's Office.

Prosecutors referred a potential case against her to the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office to determine if a misdemeanor case should be filed against the woman, whose name was not disclosed. The City Attorney's Office is still reviewing the potential case, a spokesman said.

The woman had allegedly yelled epithets at a group of four people -- one of whom was wearing Mets attire -- as they headed to their car after the game, according to the District Attorney's Office.

Papayans allegedly joined in a verbal dispute with the group before punching the man, who was not in Mets attire, according to the District Attorney's Office.

Papayans was arrested Feb. 11 by the Los Angeles Police Department's Robbery-Homicide Division but released the next day on a $30,000 bond, according to jail records.

If convicted as charged, he could face up to seven years in state prison.

Four days after the attack, Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck asked for the public's assistance with information about the attack in parking lot L, shortly after the Mets defeated the Dodgers 3-1.

"We believe it is a son and mother who are responsible for this assault," the police chief said then.

The attack was reminiscent of the March 31, 2011, assault of San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow in a parking lot at Dodger Stadium. Stow was involved in a post-game confrontation in the parking lot and fell to the ground, cracking his skull on the pavement.

Stow eventually regained consciousness and survived but suffered permanent brain damage.

Two men pleaded guilty to attacking Stow and were sentenced to state prison in a case handled by Deputy District Attorney Michele Hanisee, who is also assigned to the Papayans case.

That attack led to questions about the adequacy of security at Dodger Stadium. Stow sued the team and was awarded $18 million.

--City News Service, photo via Shutterstock