People who went to a Saturday night screening of “The Gift” in Newport Beach got more scares than they bargained for, courtesy of three assholes with a leaf blower.
Cops received several phone calls around 10:51 p.m. after moviegoers at Edwards Big Newport 6 saw three men enter the theater with a “loud, handheld machine”. The details via ABC 7:
Moviegoers thought the leaf blower was a chainsaw and scrambled to get out of the screening room. Three people received minor injuries after being trampled in the frenzy.
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. One of the suspects then entered the theater, held the leaf blower over his head and yelled, shaking the blower and revving its engine.
Police are investigating and the suspects have yet to be identified – though they clearly did not get the memo that people are a little on edge about this kind of bullshit.
“The fear that was incited in moviegoers was very much influenced by what’s going on in the rest of the country,” said Jennifer Manzella of the Newport Beach Police Department.
