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Kansas City Chiefs face lawsuit over stadium brawl

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Kansas City Chiefs face lawsuit over stadium brawl

KANSAS CITY—A Warrensburg, Mo., man who claims he was pummeled by the rowdy home crowd during a 2009 matchup of the Oakland Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs has accused the Chiefs' stadium security of turning a deaf ear to the attack, then further assaulting and insulting him because he was a Raiders fan.

In a lawsuit filed Sept. 19 in a Jackson County, Mo., Circuit Court, Clifford Trammell claims he was punched in the face, kicked and thrown down two rows of seats during a beer-fueled brawl between Chiefs and Raiders fans at Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium on Sept. 20, 2009. Mr. Trammell, a Raiders fan, said four of his teeth were knocked out as a result of the fall, and that several Chiefs fans continued stomping on him as he lay on the ground.

According to the suit, Mr. Trammell saw several security guards standing nearby as he was being assaulted, but the guards allegedly did nothing to stop the attack. It was only after he was able to escape the pile, court documents said, that the guards acted, slamming Mr. Trammell into the ground.

When Mr. Trammell asked why he was being slammed into the ground, an unidentified security guard allegedly told him that “is what you get for wearing that (stuff),” referring to the Raiders apparel he was wearing. Mr. Trammel was taken to the stadium's holding station and issued a ticket for disturbing the peace. That charge was later dropped.

A spokesman for the Chiefs declined to commend on the lawsuit.

Mr. Trammell is suing the Chiefs organization and the unidentified Chiefs fans who assaulted him for battery, premises liability and negligence, claiming that the team failed to warn of the “dangerous condition within Arrowhead Stadium of fans consuming alcohol,” that fans would “be allowed to drink too much or become intoxicated,” and that the team was “not willing nor able to protect or guarantee the safety of ticketholders from violent crime or physical harm.”

The plaintiff has asked for a minimum of $25,000 in punitive damages, plus compensation for legal fees and other costs.