Fans Involved In Fight At Indians' Stadium Charged With Disorderly Conduct

The three fans involved in the bumbling brawl that took place at a Cleveland Indians game on Saturday have been charged with disorderly conduct for fighting in public, according to a police report obtained by Fox 8 Cleveland. The report notes that 56-year-old Jon Rogers—presumably the man who dropped the flying elbow from a couple rows up—and his 23-year-old son, Ryan, got into it with another 23-year-old man named Dale Ross.

The Fox affiliate spoke with a season ticket holder who witnessed the whole thing unfold, and described the scene from his perspective.

“There were a lot of people there with families and clearly there were upset kids, and when the dust had settled, there were some women in the stands, one in particular that I noticed, that was very upset and it looked like she had been hurt,” said [Ben] Brugler.

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Ben Brugler says the toughest part of the night was not watching the Indians being swept by the Twins, it was explaining to his nine-year-old daughter why the adults in the stands were fighting. “She was crying because she didn’t really realize what was happening; she just saw people rolling around, and there were people just screaming and shrieking, like ‘Oh my gosh, is this happening? Stop it, stop it,’” he said.

Obviously, the fact that Brugler’s daughter was scared to the point of tears isn’t great, but luckily the tone of the article doesn’t remain too serious for too long as he followed up those comments with this unintentionally hilarious plea:

Brugler is among long-time Indian fans who are asking Jon Rogers, Ryan Rogers and Dale Ross to think about the unflattering image of Cleveland that is now being shared all around the world. “That is so much the exception to what is normally delivered in the game and on the field, you know; that is the part you hate seeing — that we could get that kind of reputation because that is not who we are at all,” said Brugler.

Ah, yes, because this obnoxious, rowdy display was going to be the straw that broke the camel’s back for people to think Cleveland was some kind of trashy city—as if that parody Cleveland tourism video hasn’t existed for over a decade. Also, let’s just agree to disagree on that “that is not who we are at all” part.

Fox 8 reports that the Indians declined to comment, and referred to the situation as a “police matter.”

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