Arizona Woman Sues Rose Bowl Over Assault at Rüfüs Du Sol Concert

An Arizona woman who says she was beaten unconscious at a Rüfüs Du Sol concert in Pasadena has filed suit against the Rose Bowl Operating Company, alleging the stadium failed to provide adequate security during the August attack.

Authorities said Julio Cesar Lopez Zavala, accused of carrying out the attack, pleaded not guilty in August to two felony counts of assault. Investigators said Zavala briefly left the area after an initial incident in which a drink was spilled on him before returning and striking Elston and others.

Video shared on social media shows the couple struggling to fend off blows as bystanders shouted. Elston’s attorney, Andrew Talebi, told KTLA that her injuries were so severe she stopped breathing and required CPR administered by Webb.

According to the complaint filed Oct. 1 in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Shelby Lynn Elston and her fiancé, Cain Webb, accuse the Rose Bowl of negligence after Elston was assaulted following a confrontation over a spilled drink.

The Rose Bowl Operating Company is listed on the lawsuit.

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,” according to the lawsuit.

The complaint alleges that staff “failed to have sufficient security in place to ensure the safety of its invitees, including plaintiff, which proximately caused and/or contributed to this horrific attack insofar as security, at no point during the attack, intervened to protect plaintiffs from further harm.”

In addition, Elston and Webb are suing Zavala for battery, noting that as “a direct and proximate result of Zavala’s conduct, plaintiffs suffered physical injuries, conscious 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,” said plaintiff’s attorney Andrew Talebi of Los Angeles-based West Coast Trial Lawyers. “Ms. Elston and Mr. Webb are now left to deal with mounting medical bills from the physical assault and severe mental trauma. None of this had to happen if the Rose Bowl just did its job and protected patrons.”

The lawsuit claims venue staff “negligently managed, administered, and provided security services” and allowed the violence to continue unchecked.

Witnesses told ABC7 that security guards were nearby but did not intervene during the altercation. The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages, while a parallel civil complaint accuses Zavala of battery.

Rüfüs Du Sol said in a statement that they were “devastated” to learn of the attack. “This type of behavior is completely unacceptable anywhere and the fact that this happened at one of our shows was devastating to learn about,” the group wrote on Instagram.

Information about the lawsuit from city and stadium sources was not made immediately available.