Man allegedly pepper sprays moviegoer for using phone in theater
By Matthew Rodriguez
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LOS ANGELES (KCAL, KCBS) — A 34-year-old man was arrested after he allegedly pepper-sprayed a moviegoer for using a phone in a Burbank theater earlier this week.
The Burbank Police Department said officers arrested and booked Los Angeles resident Matthew Ware for misdemeanor battery on Sept. 15 at about 5:30 p.m. inside AMC Burbank 16.
Joe Rodriguez, who was in the theater at the time, said the whole ordeal happened in the back of the room, roughly 30-40 minutes into the showing of “The Uprising.”
“It was definitely the most bizarre thing I’ve ever seen happen at the movies,” Rodriguez said.
He added that the man was scrolling on his phone with the brightness all the way down when Ware walked up to him and asked him to turn off his phone. The man refused.
Officers said this upset Ware, and he allegedly pepper-sprayed the man.
“This is insane. This grown man would resort to that,” Rodriguez said. “They gave him the benefit of the doubt; he did try to use his words initially, but that’s just unacceptable.”
Ware allegedly ran out of the theater as the other man shouted in pain. Rodriguez said the man and two other people ran out of the movie theater shortly after to get help from employees.
Police said the pepper spray caught two other people. Paramedics took the man and the two other moviegoers to the hospital for treatment.
The theater offered to refund everyone’s ticket after the whole ordeal. “The Uprising” received 55% on Rotten Tomatoes.
“To be completely honest, the movie wasn’t my cup of tea,” Rodriguez said. “I was more thrilled by what happened than the movie itself.”
CBS LA called Ware for his side of the incident, but he declined to comment and hung up
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