Suspect in beating of baseball fan may be connected to Henderson shooting

LOS ANGELES -- The man accused in the vicious attack on a San Francisco Giants fan at Dodger Stadium might be a suspect in a Nevada shooting, a law enforcement official said Wednesday.

The official, who has close knowledge of the probe into the March 31 beating of Bryan Stow, told The Associated Press that Henderson police are looking at Giovanni Ramirez as a possible suspect in a January attempted murder outside Las Vegas. The official requested anonymity because the beating investigation is ongoing.

Henderson police spokesman Keith Paul said, however, there were no open warrants or charges filed against Ramirez in the city.

Ramirez was arrested May 22 after an intensive investigation into the beating outside Dodger Stadium. Stow, of Santa Cruz, Calif., was attacked by two men as he left the stadium, suffering grievous injuries. The 42-year-old paramedic remains in critical but stable condition under heavy sedation to prevent seizures caused by traumatic brain injury.

Court records say Ramirez has a violent criminal past that includes the 1999 attempted robbery of an elderly woman. In 2005, he was convicted of possession of a firearm by a felon.

Ramirez, 31, has not been charged in the Stow case and remains in custody on allegations of violating his parole.

Officer Sara Faden, a spokeswoman for Los Angeles police, said Wednesday that any reports connecting Ramirez to attempted murder in Henderson did not come from her agency.

"At this very moment we've not been made aware that this particular person involved was involved in the Henderson incident," Faden said.

Jose Romero, one of Ramirez's attorneys, said he could not confirm whether there was a case against his client in Nevada but said he had investigators in Henderson looking into the story.

If Ramirez is indeed a suspect in Nevada, "it has nothing to do with the case at hand," Romero said. "We have never stated my client is an angel; we know he has a checkered past."

Romero said the Los Angeles Police Department's theory that Ramirez led the attack against Stow is riddled with problems, the most significant being that Ramirez was never even at Dodger Stadium the day of the attack.

Defense lawyers had given investigators several sworn statements from Ramirez's family members and other people attesting to seeing him elsewhere in Los Angeles when the beating occurred.

LAPD Detective Jose Carrillo said investigators had also spoken to some of those family members and they had given conflicting statements.

"I am not worried about anything," Carrillo said when asked whether he was confident the case would proceed.

Romero said cellphone triangulation records would further support Ramirez's claim he was not at the stadium, and he said he had statements from local businessmen who say they saw Ramirez elsewhere the day of the attack.

Police are still seeking another man who took part in the assault and a woman who was spotted driving them away afterward.

Review-Journal reporter Antonio Planas contributed to this report.