A man is seeking a $2.3 million default judgment against the owner of a Marina del Rey pub known for its 40-plus year history of turtle races, alleging he has suffered longtime injuries from being assaulted and battered by a security guard without provocation in 2024.
Brandon Stone’s Santa Monica Superior Court lawsuit against Brennan’s, filed in February 2025, also alleges premises liability, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent supervision and hiring and general negligence.
“The harm I suffered from this assault was severe and lasting,” Stone says in a sworn declaration in support of the default judgment against Artisanal Brewers Collective Holdings Inc.
Stone further says he has undergone months of treatment that will require cosmetic and reconstructive procedures, and that he continues to live with pain, scarring, cognitive symptoms, sleep disruption and emotional distress as a direct result of what he says happened to him just after midnight at Brennan’s on Dec. 20, 2024, when he contends he was attacked by a security guard.
“I was struck and knocked unconscious during the attack,” Stone says. “The next thing I remember is waking up on the ground bleeding from my face. No one called for medical help. No one called the police.”
Stone says he did not feel safe staying at Brennan’s, so he walked home injured and his mother drove him to the Marina Del Rey Hospital emergency department.
Stone further says he was injured on the forehead, needing eight sutures, as well as on the nose. He says he also had a concussion and has visual floaters consistent with a traumatic brain injury.
“I continue to experience the consequences of this assault on a daily basis,” Stone says while adding that his medical bills have been about $14,700.
Turtle races to benefit charities have been held at Brennan’s for more than 40 years. According to the pub’s website, in 1975 then-Brennan’s owner Ab Lawrence brought “the world’s stupidest sport” to Marina del Rey as a lark, hoping that he could attract a few people for a couple of weeks.
“But the turtles knew how to draw a crowd, so the races kept going,” the website states.