A chaotic crowd seemingly fueled by unruly teenagers trampled a 67-year-old grandmother late Jan. 6 as she left a South Florida movie theater.
Someone yelled “gun,” Sheryl Cohen said last week, and when she turned to run from the Cinemark’s lobby in Boynton Beach the crowd quickly caught up with her.
“I saw people running at me initially, then the next thing I knew I was on the ground,” she said. The Boynton Beach resident broke multiple bones, bruised her face and lost a $3,000 hearing aid.
That unruly Saturday night led to 11 juveniles’ arrests, Boynton Beach police said. Authorities were first called to the Boynton Mall due to reports of as many as 300 juveniles loitering. One teen later told police they’d gathered due to an Instagram post that told people to meet for a fight.
When the mall closed at 9 p.m. the juveniles meandered to the Cinemark, where they planned to see “Insidious: The Last Key,” records state. But the next showing of the horror film wasn’t until 10:30 p.m., and the theater wouldn’t open until 10 p.m. so the gaggle of teens and 17 police officers waited.
“I could hear young people yelling and screaming at each other,” Cohen said. She’d been at an evening showing of “All the Money in the World” with her husband; it let out shortly after 9 p.m. Her husband headed toward the bathroom. She told him she’d meet him outside.
According to police, multiple fights broke out inside and outside of the Cinemark building, prompting theater employees to cancel the 10:30 showing of the horror film and order the teens to leave.
Many of the teens ignored those initial orders, according to police records, so at least one officer pulled out pepper spray and threatened to use it if they didn’t leave the theater.
Despite a few who resisted arrest, most teens cleared the area and spilled over into nearby restaurants -- Buffalo Wild Wings, IHOP, Bru’s Room and McDonald’s -- and a 24 Hour Fitness, according to police records.
But at some point amid the commotion someone yelled “gun,” according to Cohen. Police at the scene did not report hearing anyone mention a gun, though Cohen is sure she did. She even remembers waiting to hear gunfire.
She never did.
Despite rumors of a shooting that night, Boynton police say they found no evidence of any gunfire.
They did, however, find evidence to arrest nearly a dozen juveniles on misdemeanor charges, mainly resisting arrest and disturbance-related offenses, police records show. All of the juveniles were released to their parents.
One of the teens was taken to a hospital first, though, for injuries sustained after falling face-first over a cement planter while running from authorities. At least four officers sustained cuts and other injuries while responding to the disturbances that night.
And Cohen was left with injuries that doctors expect will take months to heal.
She’s frustrated that moviegoers weren’t kept in their seats after the film ended while authorities cleared out the already chaotic lobby. Emptying the theaters only added to the disorder, she said.
Cinemark officials did not return The Post’s request for comment. It is unclear what the company’s policy for handling unruly crowds is.
“They were very, very lucky in this instance,” Cohen said. “Someone could have actually had a gun.”
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