Leaf-blower prank at Newport Beach movie theater injures three

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -- Police were seeking the public's help in identifying what appeared to be pranksters who entered a Newport Beach movie theater with a leaf-blower, reports to CBS Los Angeles.

The station reports that officers responded Saturday shortly before 11 p.m. after several 911 emergency calls about a disturbance at the Edwards Big Newport 6 movie theater complex, according to the Newport Beach Police Department.

Witnesses told investigators two or three male suspects had arranged to open the secured emergency exit door at the front of Theater #3 during a screening of the psychological thriller "The Gift," according to CBSLA.com.

One suspect entered the theater through the emergency door, holding "some type of loud, handheld machine" later determined to be a leaf-blower over his head, police said. Many people reportedly thought it was a chainsaw.

The suspect yelled, shook the leaf-blower, and revved its engine to create a loud and disturbing noise, witnesses told investigators, according to the station.

The three men reportedly exited the theater through the same emergency exit door, police said.

"You're literally thinking (about) "Texas Chainsaw Massacre," like there's crazy people out there," one injured movie-goer said. "You're in a theater, and you think you're going to die."

"People started screaming, and everybody got up and started running, like fight-or-flight, and some lady pushed me and I fell on the ground, and like seven or eight people trampled over my leg, and over my head," she continued.

Theater management was alerted to the activity by the emergency door alarm activation and reports from people who ran from the theater, according to police.

Officials say three people suffered minor injuries as moviegoers rushed out of the theater. One of the victims reportedly went to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian to be checked out, says the station.

Police say that whether or not it was meant as a prank, it was no joking matter given the recent violent events in theaters across the U.S.

The incident comes on the heels of the recent Lafayette, La. theater shooting that left two people dead and another incident involving a hatchet-wielding man in a movie theater near Nashville, Tenn.

Jennifer Manzella of the Newport Beach Police Department said: "The fear that was incited in moviegoers was very much influenced by what's going on in the rest of the country."

Anyone with information regarding the incident or the suspects is asked to contact Detective Joshua Vincelet at (949) 644-3779 or by email at jvincelet@nbpd.org.