A Cincinnati Bengals fan from Ohio filed a civil lawsuit against a Kansas City Chiefs fan from Missouri last week, alleging the Chiefs fan assaulted and concussed him after the teams’ AFC Championship game in 2023.

Brian Cronin, 44, of Blanchester, Ohio, is bringing one count of assault and one count of battery against Gerardo Arrieta, 38, of Liberty, Missouri. The two men allegedly got into an altercation in the parking lot of GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium after the playoff game, which the Chiefs won 23-20.

After the game, Cronin returned to his car near the stadium around 10:05 p.m. and saw that its back window had been broken, according to the lawsuit filed in Jackson County court.

While he inspected the damage, the lawsuit reads, Arrieta allegedly approached him and got in his face, “yelling triumphantly” about the game results.

Arrieta then allegedly grabbed Cronin by the neck and shoulders, the lawsuit reads, and shook him while continuing to yell in his face.

Cronin alleges he pushed Arrieta’s arm away and told him to remove his hands, at which point Arrieta allegedly punched Cronin in the side of the face with a closed fist.

The blow knocked Cronin unconscious, according to the lawsuit. He was hospitalized with a brain bleed and a concussion.

According to the lawsuit, Cronin was dressed in Bengals fan gear, and had Ohio license plates displayed on his car.

Cronin’s lawsuit argues that along with suffering an injury and incurring medical expenses, being punched in the head leaves him more susceptible to increasingly serious side effects if he were to sustain another head wound.

According to social media, Arrieta has been an avid Chiefs fan for several years. Attorneys for Cronin declined to comment on the pending case. Arrieta also could not be reached for comment.

Court records show Arrieta has not retained an attorney. No criminal charges have been filed against Arrieta in relation to the alleged assault.

Cronin’s lawsuit does not name the Kansas City Chiefs as a defendant.

Assault, violence at Arrowhead Stadium Violent altercations between fans have been reported at Arrowhead in the past. When the Chiefs lost to the Los Angeles Chargers at home on Sept. 26, 2021, a man was beaten until his jaw fractured and he lost consciousness.

Four Chiefs fans were arrested in connection with the incident, and two were charged; Eric Lamont Evans, then 47, and his son Kobe Lamont Evans, then 18.

Two weeks later at an Oct. 10 game between the Chiefs and Buffalo Bills, Chiefs superfan Tim Oerman, known as “Red X-Treme,” was captured on video throwing a punch at superfan Ty Rowton, known as “X-Factor.”

The Chiefs banned Oerman from entering Arrowhead for a year. Rowton was permanently banned from Chiefs games or events and his season tickets were revoked.

The assaults and incidents at Chiefs games have weighed heavily on some minds after one fan killed another in the Arrowhead parking lot in 2013. While the Chiefs played the Denver Broncos on Dec. 1, Joshua T. Bradley of Independence, then 27, beat 30-year-old Kyle Van Winkle of Smithville to death outside the stadium.

Bradley pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in 2016, admitting to striking Winkle repeatedly in the head and neck and causing an artery to bleed into his brain

. A Jackson County judge sentenced him to seven years in prison before suspending the sentence and placing Bradley on five years of probation.

A 2023 survey of NFL fans by Sportsbook Review found that about 40% of respondents have witnessed some sort of crime in or around an NFL stadium, and about 7% have been a victim.

Physical violence and public intoxication were the incidents most commonly observed by fans.