Stolen backpack preempts fight between security guard, fan at A's game

OAKLAND, Calf. (KTVU) - A fight broke out during the first game of the Bay Bridge series in Oakland on Monday night between at least one female security guard and a female baseball fan, prompting the A’s to issue a stern statement against any kind of violence and the guard to subsequently be fired. And the melee seems to have started over a stolen or missing backpack.

Oakland police says someone at the A's game took a backpack from an on-duty security guard at the Coliseum stadium. When another security guard  found the missing backpack, they confronted the fan. Police say a fight then ensued.

According to police, the backpack had some items missing from it. But it's unclear at this point if the fan in question had anything to do with it; no arrests have been made.

What is clear is that there was a public fight between at least one guard and a fan in a Giants T-shirt at the game.

Rebecca Chavez, 34, of Pinole, took video of the melee about 8:30 p.m. She didn't see the whole thing, but at one point, she saw two female security guards involved in a fight with a female fan. And at another point, she witnessed one of the security guards flipping off the crowd, who then booed her. One man even threw a beer can at the guard, Chavez said. "I was entertained," she said, adding that she actually felt that the situation was dangerous enough to leave for a bit with her toddler. “Yes, the crowd was disrespecting the security guard, but she didn’t have to start throwing punches,”  Chavez said of the guard's behavior.

Chavez's sister, Sarah, also said the guard was the one who was at fault, although she acknowledged that the fans were rowdy and at some points heckling the guards over who knows what.

The A's responded swiftly. “During tonight’s game, there was an incident involving a security guard," the A’s tweeted.  "We contract with a third-party security company and are currently investigating the situation. Violence in any form is not acceptable. We take this incident seriously.” The case is being investigated by Oakland police.

On Tuesday, A's spokeswoman Catherine Aker said that the team's third-party security company, Staff Pro, hired a subcontractor for Monday night's game. The woman involved in the fight works for that subcontractor, U.S. Security Associates. That guard "will not return to work A's games," Aker said. She added that "fan safety is our utmost concern." KTVU has learned that the guard was later fired by her employer.

Shane Siegrist of Vacaville, who shared his video his KTVU, wrote on Twitter that he was sitting in the section where the fight broke out,  said the security guard “assaulted an innocent woman.” His video is only 7 seconds long and what exactly occurred isn't clear. There is a lot of yelling in the video. and there are several people wearing black-and-yellow security T-shirts who rushed to the scene.

Baseball lover Chris Moffett told KTVU early Tuesday morning that the fans at the A's and the San Francisco Giants games aren't as rowdy usually as the fans for the Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers. But he did say there "is some tension" between the two rivals.

The A's beat the San Francisco Giants 8-5. The two play each other again Tuesday night, again at the Coliseum.

KTVU's Lisa Fernandez, Alex Savidge and Henry Lee contributed to this report.