Leaf-blower prank at Newport Beach theater injures three

Newport Beach theater

A movie theater prank carried out by three unidentified men left three people injured. According to eye witnesses, two to three men had entered the theater through an emergency exit, one of whom was holding the leaf blower over his head. The suspect yelled, shook the leaf-blower and revved its engine to scare the crowd, many of whom ran out of the theater. The suspects were said to have exited back through the emergency exit.
With the recent theater shooting, it wasn’t a surprise seeing so many people trying to exit the hall as quickly as possible.
“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.”
The incident occurred during a screening of the psychological thriller The Gift at the Newport Beach theater.

Surveillance footage of the perpetrator

Police have since released surveillance photos of four people linked to the disturbance. The persons of interest were described as three white males and one white female, all between the ages of 15 to 20 years old . Anyone who can help identify or locate the individuals was urged to contact Detective Joshua Vincelet at 949-644-3779 or jvincelet@nbpd.org.