BEAVERCREEK, Ohio — An intense moment during a Friday night showing of the film "Joker" at an Ohio theater was magnified by a moviegoer's behavior.
Kellee Crossley of suburban Dayton said she and her daughter Emily Crossley were in the theater for the 7:05 p.m. show at the Cinemark movie theater at The Greene in Beavercreek.
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“Right at this intense part of the movie, this dude stands up randomly and this guy several seats away literally comes flying down and tackles him to the ground,” Kellee Crossley said. “It all just happened so quickly.”
She said her daughter heard the man say, “Dude, you brought a gun,” before tackling him. But neither saw a gun.
Additional eyewitness reports indicate that the patron was using his cell phone to record the movie and he was tackled by security after refusing to leave.
A second man got up from his seat and ran down the steps in the theater to help subdue the man, she said.
Security and police were there within minutes of the incident, which Crossley said happened about three-quarters of the way into the two-hour movie.
The patron who stood during the movie was handcuffed but resisted the officers before he was led out, she said.
The movie did not stop, but once the credits started to roll, the theater immediately turned on the lights and asked everyone to stay seated.
The theater apologized and said that no one has had to be escorted out of a movie in six years. Management also handed out vouchers for a free movie.
Beavercreek police said the incident did not involve a gun and described it as a fight. It’s not clear whether the man escorted out was arrested or what charges he would face.
The theater said it had no comment and referred questions to the corporate office.