A 63-year-old disabled veteran who was attacked after asking a couple to leave their VIP seat at a Florida movie theater says they “just went astray” – leaving behind a bloody, broken nose, shocking new images show.
The brutal assault happened on July 10 at the AMC in Pompano Beach when the unidentified man took his pre-reserved seats for a screening of “Insidious: The Red Door,” only to find it already occupied by a man and a woman.
After being asked to move, the younger man violently threw the man to the ground and hit him on the head, spattering his shirt with blood while his wife looked on helplessly.
The man was taken to hospital and required stitches on his head, and new photos show a huge bump on his forehead resulting from the attack, which was caught on camera by another moviegoer.
In a video interview over the weekend, the victim, who asked not to be named, showed some of the damage she sustained during the scare. His attacker, meanwhile, remains at large.
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A man who was struck by a suspect who is still at large in a Florida movie theater last week has come forward to reveal that he suffered a broken nose in the assault that was being filmed
Footage from another viewer also showed the altercation in full – and how the victim was then attacked and repeatedly beaten by the suspect while others, including his wife, looked on helplessly
“It happened so fast, he basically punched me,” the victim told NBC Miami on Friday, about two weeks after he and his wife bought tickets to the July 10 airing of “Insidious: The Red Door,” which included extended seat reservations.
“I couldn’t even get a defensive shot,” he recalled.
The man went on to describe the attack as he remembered it. He said he started when he and his spouse arrived at the Pompano Beach theater and found the other couple seated.
On condition that his face would be blurred, the victim described how he “politely” asked the two to move just before the confrontation turned physical – and before another moviegoer pulled out a phone to record the attack.
He further claimed that after not being well received by the man, he gave up the seats – and started looking elsewhere. However, he said the conflict resumed as he continued to be looted by the attacker, who he recalled “just kept staring at him”.
“This guy just kept staring at me instead of getting up,” he told the broadcaster.
“I said to the people who didn’t apologize or say thank you at that point, I said, ‘You guys can just keep the seats.’
Then, “as I walked away,” he continued, “he said, ‘Run to your wife, little boy.’
“So I turned around and said, ‘You know I’m not the one who’s a little boy — you took my seats and didn’t apologize or you didn’t say thank you, and I allowed you to keep them.’
At that point, the victim said, the man had become hostile and another bystander began recording the violent assault that ensued.
The victim recalled feeling like a “boxer.” [backed] During the surprise attack that followed, he was pinned against the ropes – in the process he was slammed against a railing and then hung several feet over an exit passage.
“He jumped up, he wanted to fight me, he supported me,” he recalled on Friday, ten days after photos were taken after the attack showing him covered in blood.
“I fell over the stairs and as soon as I fell down the stairs it was like a boxer fighting the ropes. This guy just wet my pants.”
Citing the footage, the victim added that several witnesses and his wife tried to stop the man during the attack but were unsuccessful.
He also recalled how the man and his companion – who are both in surveillance footage from the theater but have not yet been named by police – fled the theater immediately afterwards and how he was completely taken by surprise by the attack.
“I didn’t think anyone would be dumb enough to actually start a fight like this in the movie,” he admitted – adding that he was hospitalized after the incident to be treated for a broken nose and an unspecified number of stitches.
“It happened so fast that he basically punched me,” the victim told NBC Miami on Friday, about two weeks after he and his wife bought tickets to the July 10 airing of “Insidious: The Red Door.”
“I didn’t think anyone would be dumb enough to actually start a fight like this in the movie,” he told NBC Miami on Friday, announcing that he was hospitalized after the incident and sustained an unspecified number of stitches
“He jumped up, he wanted to fight me, he supported me,” he recalled ten days after photos were taken after the attack showing him covered in blood
Grainy footage showed him falling down the stairs in the theatre’s aisle during a particularly heated part of the exchange. He was beaten several times after he asked a man and a woman who were sitting in their seats during the July 10 performance to move
The man filmed hitting the moviegoer struts down the cinema corridor while his accomplice wags her hair as she walks behind him
Cameras also captured an image of the attacker’s companion, who has also not yet been identified
Broward County police have since backed up his account in an official press release – and launched a hunt for the perpetrator using the aforementioned security photos of him exiting the theater.
According to the Broward Sheriff’s Office, the attack began with the unidentified man “aggressively walking in the victim’s face” at the Pompano Beach movie theater.
“The person got so close to the victim that she was forced to take a step back and eventually landed on the stairs in the hallway of the theater,” it said, of how the attacker made a menacing move towards the victim before physically shoving her against the railing.
“In the heated moment,” it continues, “the victim loses his balance and falls down the stairs.”
Police added that the person is then seen “standing over the 63-year-old victim” before “repeatedly slapping him in the face until witnesses rush to the victim’s aid” and drag him away.
The subject and the adult woman left the theater immediately thereafter.
The victim suffered multiple injuries to his head and face, police said.
“He was taken to a local hospital for treatment.”
As of Sunday, police are still looking for the suspect and any clues as to the identity of his or her acquaintance. Your investigation is still ongoing. reached out to us for comment.