Man Who Beat Paramedic Bryan Stow Now Facing Gun Charge

Feb. 27--One of two men who pleaded guilty in connection with the attack on San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow outside Dodger Stadium must remain in custody to face a federal gun charge, a judge has ruled.

Marvin Norwood, 33, could have been released within days of his sentencing Feb. 20 for the 2011 beating of Stow. But a magistrate ordered him held without bail to face federal gun charges stemming from a search of Norwood's home in Rialto (San Bernardino County) when he was arrested in July 2011.

Norwood was sentenced in Los Angeles to four years in prison for the March 31, 2011, assault that left Stow, a 45-year-old paramedic and father of two, with permanent brain damage. A co-defendant, Louis Sanchez, 31, was sentenced to eight years.

Norwood pleaded guilty to felony assault for the attack, which happened in the Dodger Stadium parking lot after the opening game of the 2011 season. Sanchez admitted to felony mayhem for sucker-punching Stow, causing him to fall unconscious to the pavement, fracturing his skull.

With credit for time served, Norwood could have been freed within days had he not been ordered held on the gun charge. He was transferred Feb. 21 from Men's Central Jail, run by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, to the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal jail a few blocks away.

When he was arrested, Los Angeles police searching his home found two semiautomatic rifles, a shotgun, two handguns and live ammunition from a "garage attic crawl space," Special Agent Steven Goerke of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives wrote in an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court.

Norwood told police the guns weren't his and that he had allowed Sanchez to store them at Norwood's house, Goerke wrote.

During a secretly recorded jailhouse conversation, Norwood and Sanchez -- both convicted felons prohibiting from having firearms -- talked about "heats," or guns, Goerke wrote.

Norwood told Sanchez, "They got the guns. ... Ain't no getting around that," according to the affidavit.

Sanchez allegedly replied, "I'll have to make a deal man. ... Take all the heat, for the heats."

Henry K. Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: hlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @henryklee

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