Several members of the Mark Attanasio family were physically assaulted outside the Hilton Hotel in Milwaukee last night, law enforcement sources have confirmed to Wisconsin Right Now.
A Milwaukee police news alert obtained by Wisconsin Right Now through a source identifies the victims as Robert Attanasio, 70, of New York, New York, and Stacey L. Gonsalves, 59, of Los Angeles, California.
The suspect pushed Robert down on cement several times and pushed Stacey in the nose, knocking her to the ground. Both suffered minor injuries. The unidentified suspect’s motive is not clear, but he was described as “mumbling” before the attack.
A law enforcement source confirmed to Wisconsin Right Now that the victims in the incident are Brewers’ Owner Mark Attanasio’s family members.
The attack comes as violent crime concerns have soared in Milwaukee as the number of sworn Milwaukee police officers has been depleted over the years and court backlogs have festered unresolved.
We have contacted the Milwaukee Brewers for comment but have not heard back yet from their public relations office. The Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Brewers on Wednesday, ending their season. The game started at 6 p.m. We have no indication that the suspect knew who the family members were or that the attack had anything to do with the Brewers playoffs loss, to be clear.
The incident was listed as “physical abuse elder person” and occurred at 9:50 p.m. on October 4, 2023, the night of the Brewers’ playoffs loss.
The witnesses listed were also members of the Attanasio family; they are listed as Lee S. Attanasio, 61, and Jane S. Attanasio, 23.
Brewers’ owner Mark Attanasio, who is currently involved in an effort to obtain public funding to keep the team in Milwaukee.
An obituary for his father Joseph Attanasio lists the familial relations.
It says that Brewers’ owner Mark Attanasio has a brother named Robert, a sister named Stacey (as well as a brother-in-law with the last name Gonsalves), and a sister-in-law named Lee. Joseph Attanasio also had a granddaughter named Jane. The ages of Mark Attanasio’s relatives in public records match those of the Attanasios listed in the police alert. (Note: Mark Attanasio has two sons.)
The Los Angeles Times reported in a previous profile story on Mark Attanasio that his “brother, Robert, is married to the former Lee Stein, who grew up there,” referring to Milwaukee. According to LA Business First, she is the daughter of Milwaukee-area Stein Gardens and Gifts owners Joan and Jack Stein.
According to the alert, the victims and witnesses were standing in front of the Hilton waiting for an Uber when they were approached by the suspect who got close to Lee Attanasio and started “mumbling something to her.” Lee told him to get back, the alert says.
Robert Attanasio then attempted to intervene and was “thrown to the cement two to three times causing pain,” the alert says.
Stacey L. Gonsalves then came out of the vestibule to stop the attack and the suspect “pushes her face causing injury to the nose and knocking her to the cement.”
The suspect then fled the scene on foot.
The suspect was a stranger to the family members, the alert says.
It described the suspect as a black male, 6 foot 3 inches tall, 160-170 pounds, in his 30s, with a dark complexion, narrow face, black hooded sweatshirt, dark pants, black shoes, and black glasses.
The motive was listed as unknown.
Robert suffered pain in his back and buttock area and Gonsalves reported redness and swelling to her nose and pain to her knee.
