Dodgers fan slain following Giants game

Jonathan Denver Jonathan Denver Photo: Courtesy California Department O Photo: Courtesy California Department O Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close Dodgers fan slain following Giants game 1 / 9 Back to Gallery

It was, at first, the sort of baseball rivalry spat that happens all the time - a batch of Giants and Dodgers fans mixing it up, talking some smack, shoving a bit. Most such confrontations dissolve quickly and harmlessly.

On Wednesday night, however, events took a far more tragic turn after a Giants-Dodgers game in San Francisco - leaving one young man stabbed to death, one suspect in custody and two more being hunted by police.

Jonathan Denver, a 24-year-old Dodgers fan who worked as a plumber's apprentice in Fort Bragg (Mendocino County), was stabbed near Third and Harrison streets about 11:30 p.m., less than 90 minutes after the game ended at AT&T Park six blocks away, police said Thursday. He had taken the day off so he could attend the game with his father - a security guard for the Dodgers - and other family members.

The group that fought with Denver and the others on the streets South of Market didn't go to the game, but the killing happened after the combatants exchanged insults about the Giants and Dodgers, police said. At least one of the suspects wore a Giants cap, and Denver was dressed in Dodgers apparel, police said.

Car from Lodi

A 21-year-old Lodi man, Michael Montgomery, was arrested and booked on suspicion of homicide, police said. Two other men who fled the fight on foot were being sought.

A fourth man, an 18-year-old, was also arrested but was released late in the day without being charged, authorities said.

Denver was with his father, Robert Preece, along with his father's girlfriend, his brother and perhaps one other person Wednesday night, police said. They left the game in the eighth inning to go to a bar.

The trouble started when Denver and his companions left the bar and encountered the suspects, who had come to the South of Market to club-hop, Police Chief Greg Suhr said. The two groups exchanged words about the Giants-Dodgers rivalry, and the back-and-forth "deteriorated into a fight," the chief said.

The fight broke up, but a few minutes later the two groups crossed paths again, Suhr said. More fighting broke out, and this time Denver was stabbed.

Denver died at San Francisco General Hospital. A second man was treated at the hospital after he was punched numerous times during the fight, police said. That man was later released.

'No place for violence'

"Obviously, this is one of the most storied rivalries in baseball," Suhr said. "But there is no place for violence. Please be respectful of everybody rooting for whoever they want to root for. ... The fact that anybody got in a beef over the Giants vs. Dodgers and someone lost their life, it's just senseless."

Denver had been a plumber's apprentice for two years at North Coast Plumbing, Heating and Sheet Metal in Fort Bragg, said the company's owner, Cas Smith. He had taken time off from his job to go to the game.

"He was just a very nice young man - he wanted to be a plumber," Smith said. "He was very promising. He was one of our best apprentices.

"It's sad."

Denver's aunt, who did not want to be named, said the family "just wants everyone to know that he was a good-hearted person. He wasn't looking for trouble and wasn't involved in any gang."

She said her brother, Denver's father, has been a security supervisor at Dodger Stadium for many years. He also works security at Staples Center in Los Angeles, home of the Lakers of the NBA and the Kings of the NHL, she said.

She said she spoke to Preece on Thursday. "He was having trouble with being able to complete sentences," she said. "He was in shock."

The Dodgers said that "the pain that this has caused his family and friends is unimaginable. Words are not enough to describe our sadness. There is no rational explanation for this senseless act which resulted in Jonathan's death."

Dodger Stadium victim

The Giants and Dodgers are longtime rivals, and at times the rivalry has spilled over into violence between fans. The most notorious incident happened after the opening game of the 2011 season in Los Angeles, when Giants fan Bryan Stow was severely beaten in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium.

Two San Bernardino County men are awaiting trial in connection with the attack, which left Stow, a paramedic from Santa Cruz, with long-term brain injuries. The Giants held a fundraiser for Stow on Tuesday, with some proceeds from tickets going toward his care, and planned to do the same at games Thursday night and Sunday afternoon.

A spokeswoman for the Giants said the team knew little more about the Wednesday night incident than what police have said.

"We're obviously very concerned about the situation and trying to understand exactly what happened," said the spokeswoman, Staci Slaughter.

The team observed a moment of silence for Denver before Thursday night's Giants-Dodgers game. Police said they would increase security in and around the ballpark.

San Francisco Chronicle staff writers Henry K. Lee and Kevin Fagan contributed to this report.