Updated on Sept 29, 2023: Jesse Montez Thornton II has been arrested in connection with a violent attack at a movie theater in Florida two months ago, according to CBS Miami. Thorton, 27, is charged with aggravated battery with great bodily harm for allegedly beating up 63-year-old Marc Cohen over a seat at the Pompano Beach 18 theater on July 10, 2023.
Previously:
A 63-year-old man was attacked at a Florida movie theater after asking a couple to leave his reserved VIP seats, authorities said.
The violence erupted inside a Pompano Beach AMC when the victim and his wife arrived and saw a man and woman sitting in the seats they had paid for, the Broward Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
The victim “politely” asked the male suspect to move, according to the news release. Instead, the suspect “became hostile,” stood up and aggressively got in the 63-year-old victim’s face. On Thursday, authorities released surveillance video of the incident, which happened shortly before 9:56 p.m. on July 10.
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The footage showed the much-younger attacker getting in the older man’s face as a trailer for the Tom Cruise movie Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One played on the screen.
“The subject got so close to the victim that it forced him to take a step back, ending up on the stairs in the aisle of the theater,” the sheriff’s office said. “The subject is seen standing above the 63-year-old victim repeatedly punching him in the face until witnesses rushed to the victim’s aid and pulled the subject off him.”
The victim suffered injuries to his head and face. He was transported to an area hospital for treatment. The suspect and his female companion [shown above] left the theater and were recorded by surveillance cameras walking through a hallway.
In an interview earlier today, the victim — who declined to give his name — recounted the ordeal to NBC6 South Florida.
“This guy just kept staring at me instead of getting up,” the man told the TV station. “I said to the people at this point, who didn’t apologize or say thank you, I said ‘you guys can just keep the seats.’ As I’m walking away, he said ‘go run to your wife little boy.’ So I turned around and I said ‘you know I’m not the one who’s being a little boy, you took my seats and you didn’t apologize or you didn’t say thank you and I let you keep them.'”
The news release was sarcastically titled “A Man Gave His Worst Performance at the Movies and Detectives Want to Find Him.” The sheriff’s office asked anyone who recognizes the suspect to contact the department at 954-493-TIPS (8477) or online at browardcrimestoppers.org.
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