A trip to the movies took a bizarre turn in Burbank, California, after police say a man pepper-sprayed another moviegoer during a dispute over cellphone use inside a theater.
Officers were called to AMC Burbank 16 around 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 15 after reports that one patron had sprayed another during a screening. Police later identified the suspect as 34-year-old Matthew Ware of Los Angeles.
According to witness Joe Rodriguez, the confrontation happened about 30 to 40 minutes into a showing of The Uprising.
Rodriguez told CBS Los Angeles that another man had been using his phone with the screen brightness turned down when Ware approached and asked him to put it away. The man refused.
Police say Ware then became upset and allegedly sprayed the moviegoer with pepper spray.
The sudden burst affected more than just the person involved in the argument. Two other people in the theater also reported irritation from the spray, and all three were taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Rodriguez described the scene as one of the strangest things he had ever witnessed in a movie theater.
After the spraying, witnesses said Ware left the auditorium while the injured moviegoer and two others ran out to get help from theater employees.
Police found Ware in the lobby and took him into custody.
Burbank Police said he was booked into the city jail on suspicion of misdemeanor battery.
Ware has not been convicted, and the accusation against him remains an allegation.
CBS Los Angeles reported that it later contacted Ware for comment, but he declined to discuss the incident.
The theater reportedly offered refunds to patrons after the disruption.
Rodriguez even managed to find some humor in the strange night, joking that the real-life drama was more exciting to him than the movie itself.
