Men With Leaf Blower Frighten Movie Audience

Police say two or possibly more men entered the theater on Saturday night, making loud noises with the handheld machine that caused serious alarm among the audience. One of the suspects then entered the theater, held the leaf blower over his head and yelled, shaking the blower and revving its engine.

“The fear that was incited in moviegoers was very much influenced by what’s going on in the rest of the country”, Ms Manzella said, adding that the pranksters intended to fool people into believing they were carrying a weapon.

Authorities received multiple 911 calls about a disturbance at the Edwards Big Newport 6 movie theater complex in the 300 block of Newport Center Drive (map) beginning about 10:51 p.m. Saturday, the Newport Beach Police Department stated in a news release.

Another moviegoer said the man was screaming when he burst through the emergency exit door. Long Beach police believe the men came to the theater with the intention of scaring the moviegoers inside. The suspects had arranged to open the secured emergency exit door at the front of theater No. 3 during the screening of the movie, police said.

Officers set up a perimeter and checked the theater and surrounding area, but the suspects had fled, the release said.

Meanwhile, scared patrons rushed out of the theater, some of them getting injured in the haste to flee from the supposed danger.

Several seconds later, the intruders and people inside the theater left, the spokeswoman said.

Aldama, who was seated in the middle of the theater, said she was pushed to the ground and trampled in the melee. “Everyone thought it was like ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, ‘” she said.

Police said Monday that three people had minor injuries in the panicked rush to get out of the theater during the showing of “The Gift“. “We’re doing everything we can to identify these people… and make a case for the (District Attorney) to decide on charges”.