Three men stabbed last month in a fracas that broke out in the parking lot of Sports Authority Field say they received a letter from the Denver Broncos banning them from attending games for a year even though they already bought playoff tickets for $750 each.
“Honestly, I’m pretty mad,” said Jordan Trujillo, 23, of Pueblo. “I’m thinking about going to the playoff game and protesting.”
Trujillo said his friends, Mathew DeHerrera and his brother, Joshua DeHerrera, 36, have also been banned for one year from attending Broncos games or even tailgating in the Broncos parking lot.
“They are making it sound like we caused the fight or were partly responsible,” Trujillo said Friday. “I don’t think that’s right for turning their backs on us.”
He said before they can attend games again they have to attend anger management classes.
Trujillo and the DeHerrera brothers were stabbed at about 10 p.m. on Dec. 12 following the Broncos’ loss to the San Diego Charges.
Trujillo said he bought two tickets for $1,500 to the playoff game, which coincidentally is a rematch between the Broncos and the Chargers.
A statement by Stadium Management Company released Friday afternoon said company authorities consulted Denver police and read its report before “determining the appropriate discipline.”
“Stadium Management Company’s No. 1 priority is ensuring a safe, comfortable environment for its guests,” the statement says. “Its policies dictate that any individual involved in a violent incident on-site may be subject to a ban from Sports Authority Field at Mile High of a varying length.”
SMC will “continue to implement its policies in a fair and consistent manner at all times,” the statement says.
Denver prosecutors later decided not to file charges against suspect Justin Manzanares, who was arrested for investigation of first-degree assault shortly after the incident.
Lynn Kimbrough, spokeswoman for Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey, has said the decision was based on the fact that witnesses could not provide a positive identification that Manzanares stabbed anyone and that even if he had he could argue he acted in self-defense. The knife was never found.
Manzanares’ attorney Charlie Fife said his client denies stabbing anyone. Fife said his client was assaulted after his car nearly struck another vehicle.
Trujillo has said he was stabbed from behind and didn’t see who plunged the knife into his abdomen. The gash was 4 inches deep and 3½ inches long. He said he was in the hospital for five days and had to quit his construction job. He just received a $70,000 hospital bill and he doesn’t have health insurance, he said.
Manzanares bonded out after spending a week in jail. He then learned he had been fired from his job “due to all the publicity.”
Manzanares, who lives in Grand Junction, won his first ticket to a Broncos game in a lottery after making a contribution to the Good Samaritan Clinic of Western Colorado, Fife said.
