Injured San Francisco guard sues skateboarder, Thrasher journal

A San Francisco security officer who sustained brain damage in a confrontation with skateboarders is seeking damages from one of the suspected attackers, Thrasher magazine and builders, including the Trump Organization.

In a security video image included in the civil lawsuit, Dan Jansen is lying on the sidewalk at 555 California St.

Dan Jansen, 57, was seriously injured on November 25, 2018 while trying to prevent skateboarders from doing stunts outside of 555 California St., a skyscraper in the Financial District.

He was in a coma for more than a week and had multiple operations, according to the civil complaint filed with the San Francisco Supreme Court on Monday. He will need “lifelong medical care and treatment,” including accompanying care, the lawsuit said.

One of the skateboarders, Jesse Vieira, was charged with crimes, including assaulting with a lethal weapon. His 2019 trial ended in a lawsuit when the jury was stuck.

Vieira, a professional skateboarder, is named as a defendant in the lawsuit by Jansen and his wife. Also mentioned are Thrasher magazine, which promoted the activities of GX1000, a skateboard crew founded and managed by Thrasher’s parent company, and the owners and operators of 555 California, which also includes the Trump Organization.

The complaint calls for a trial and does not indicate a dollar amount.

The suit states that Vieira and other members of GX1000 often used the space outside the building – known to skateboarders as Black Rock – to practice and perform various skateboarding stunts and tricks, and to safely initiate, provoke, and engage in physical confrontations to get involved and monetize staff. “

On November 24, 2018, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, the local security forces asked the police for help and said a run-in with 10 to 15 skateboarders was “out of control”. Jansen wasn’t told about this episode when he got to work the next day, the suit says. He confronted a group of seven skateboarders who were moving barricades he had erected to prevent their activities.

In the ensuing fight, which was captured by a surveillance camera, Jansen was pushed onto the sidewalk, hit his head and fractured his skull. When he was passed out, the skateboarders fled.

The incident gained national attention and sparked a lengthy report in the New York Times on the renegade image of skateboarding as a sport, preparing for its Olympic debut.