Leaf-blower prank at movie theater could bring charges

Authorities are weighing whether to file criminal charges against one adult and three minors suspected of causing a panic by revving a leaf blower in a Newport Beach movie theater last month.

Newport Beach police said they have finished their investigation and on Tuesday sent the case to the Orange County district attorney’s office and the county probation department, which handles juvenile cases.

Authorities declined to say what charges they’re considering, but Newport Beach police spokeswoman Jennifer Manzella told Times Community News, “We wouldn’t hand over a case if we didn’t think there was a law broken.”

Police previously said the four suspects intended to scare moviegoers on Aug. 8 when one of them entered a theater at Edwards Big Newport 6 through an exit door and used the leaf blower to disrupt a late-night showing of “The Gift.”

Investigators suspect at least one co-conspirator helped set up the prank by opening the door from inside the theater, police said.

Audience members scrambled to leave, with many thinking the blower was a gun, a chainsaw or another weapon. Some suffered minor injuries in the stampede, according to authorities.

Police released security camera pictures of the suspects taken earlier that night at an In-N-Out Burger in Irvine. The four, whom police referred to at the time as “persons of interest,” turned themselves in and cooperated with the investigation, police said.

Police later announced they had tied the group to the theater incident.

Authorities have not identified the suspects, saying only that they are between 15 and 20 years old and that one is female.

The district attorney’s office declined to release information about the one adult suspect or what charges that person could face.

“Basically, we’re in the process of reviewing the facts before making a filing decision,” spokesman Chris Kim said.

Orange County probation department spokesman Ed Harrison said he is prohibited by law from disclosing specifics about juvenile cases, but he said his office generally weighs a range of options. For instance, minors can be sentenced to informal sanctions such as counseling, Harrison said.

In the most serious cases, he said, probation officials can recommend that the district attorney’s office file criminal charges.

Though the police investigation took about three weeks to finish, police said it was not abnormally long. The fact that three juveniles were involved complicated the process, though, Manzella said.

The nature of the prank also was new for Newport Beach, she added.

“It was a unique case for sure,” Manzella said. “We’re not aware of anything like it that’s happened.”

jeremiah.dobruck2@latimes.com

Jeremiah Dobruck writes for Times Community News.