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After Dodger Stadium tackle cuts marriage proposal short, couple is all smiles

April 4, 2023

Ricardo Juarez and Stephani Ramona Gutierrez decided to tag along with friends to the Dodgers’ Opening Day game Thursday, March 30.

But Juarez, who lives in Riverside, didn’t just take his Mookie Betts jersey and Dodgers cap.

The 35-year-old sushi chef at Oishii Sushi & Teriyaki in Moreno Valley also took an engagement ring. He planned to propose to then-girlfriend Gutierrez, 33, who uses the name Ramona Saavedra on social media.

Ricardo Juarez, left, and new fiancee Stephani Ramona Gutierrez are seen in Riverside on Monday, April 3, 2023. Juarez, a Riverside resident, was tackled by a security guard at Dodger Stadium on Thursday, March 30, 2023, while proposing to Gutierrez on the field. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Stephani Ramona Gutierrez, left, and Ricardo Juarez, are seen in front of a mural in Riverside on Monday, April 3, 2023. Juarez, a Riverside resident, was tackled by a security guard at Dodger Stadium on Thursday, March 30, 2023, while proposing to Gutierrez on the field. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Ricardo Juarez lifts new fiancee Stephani Ramona Gutierrez in Riverside on Monday, April 3, 2023. Juarez, a Riverside resident, was tackled by a security guard at Dodger Stadium on Thursday, March 30, 2023, while proposing to Gutierrez on the field. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

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But what Juarez thought would be a proposal shown on the jumbotron ended with him being tackled by security guards on the field — and with him as the star of a viral video.

“I wanted it to be special,” Juarez said Monday, April 3. “I didn’t want to be simple.”

During the seventh-inning stretch of the Dodgers game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Juarez decided to run onto the field from their seats in the left-field pavilion, fall to one knee and propose to Gutierrez, who was in the stands. But a Dodger Stadium security guard sped toward him, tackled him to the ground and handcuffed him. Juarez was escorted off the field as the crowd cheered him on.

Proposal gone wrong at Dodger Stadium pic.twitter.com/qankLwE5sW

— maze (@Mazeaveli) March 31, 2023

Juarez bought the ring two weeks ago and planned something special to show his love for Gutierrez.

“I just wanted to go the baseball game and come out on screen,” he said. “I never imagined it being this big.”

Gutierrez, who lives in Beaumont, said Juarez was extremely excited but he “jumped the gun” with his spur-of-the-moment decision to propose from the field instead of in the stands.

“I was coming back from the bathroom,” Gutierrez said. “I almost missed the whole thing.”

Though Gutierrez, a respiratory student at American Career College in Ontario, said yes to Juarez, there were consequences to his bravery.

“They gave him a citation, they gave him the ring back and they banned him for a year,” she said.

After the tackle, Juarez went to Riverside University Health System Medical Center in Moreno Valley and got a shot for his pain, Gutierrez said.

Juarez said his spine and neck hurt after the tackle, which sent his Dodgers cap and the ring flying. Doctors told Juarez it was normal to feel pain after the impact of such a hit.

A Los Angeles Dodgers spokesperson declined to comment on the incident Friday, March 31.

The couple met when a mutual friend introduced them at Lake Perris about three years ago. They started going on hikes at Mount Rubidoux in Riverside and hit if off, Gutierrez said.

Gutierrez and Juarez have a child, 1, together and Gutierrez has three from two previous relationships.

Planning for the wedding wasn’t the first thing on Gutierrez’s mind when he proposed.

“I was so shocked,” Gutierrez said. “And I was scared. I thought he was gonna go to jail and I thought I wasn’t going to see him anymore.”

While being interviewed on a Spanish-language radio show, “El Show de Piolín” on 107.1 FM, hosted by Eddie “Piolín” Sotelo, pushed the couple to set a wedding date and created a GoFundMe page to help pay for the nuptials. As of Monday evening, $583 of the $20,000 goal had been raised.

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Though the couple was apprehensive about a fundraiser, Gutierrez said, “let’s just do it and see what happens.”

As for the wedding, “we’re shooting for Aug. 5,” she said.

So what happened after Juarez was released?

Juarez was dropped off by security on Sunset Boulevard, near a stadium entrance. Still, he had one more trick up his sleeve.

“He gets on one knee and he proposes again, as soon as I see him,” she said.

Orange County Register