I was attacked at the movies today

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

So, weeks after it came out, I was finally able to go see Iron Man 3 today. My parents wanted to see it too, so we all went together. Everything’s pretty uneventful at first. Buy our tickets, parents buy some popcorn, head towards our theater. Well, as we were walking down the hall towards our movie, we walk past two people sitting on a bench. A guy and a gal in their early 20s. Girl has her arm around the guy (who clearly looked mentally disabled), holding his hand with her other hand. Honestly, I didn’t even notice them at first. But as I walk by, the guy just jumps out of his seat and runs at me. The girl’s screaming at him to stop but there was only about five feet between us so he got to me pretty fast. He grabs my shirt and my hair, yanking at them, hitting me in the face, knocking my glasses off. The whole time the girl’s screaming at him to stop, trying unsuccessfully to pull him off. I wasn’t able to pull away either as he had a strong grip on my hair. Luckily, my dad got to me and slammed the kid to the ground, popcorn and soda flying all over the place.

Obviously, we’re in shock and by this point on of the theater employees is coming, as well as a guy who apparently was with the two people but had bee away for some reason. I was shaking and pretty upset but I’d like to say I kept it together pretty well. My first thought was to find my glasses, which I did. A lens had popped out but otherwise they were fine. The entire time, the girl’s on the floor with the guy, apologizing over and over again, looking pretty shaken herself. The missing male companion went over to her and helped bring her and the guy who attacked me back to the bench. My dad was furious, telling the employee to call for security. And while he didn’t yell at the girl or lose his temper, he did give her a mouthful. Telling her if she couldn’t control him, he needed to stay away from public places. About this time, the manager of the theater comes up and gets filled in on what happened. He also apologized profusely, even though we assured him we knew it wasn’t the theater’s fault. My dad got replacements on his popcorn and drink, and the manager walked with us to our theater. He said he’d take care of the ‘other problem’ and come back to talk to us in a few moments.

While we were sitting in the theater waiting for the movie to start, the manager came in to talk to us. He told us the woman wanted to make sure we knew how sorry she was. And apparently she told the manager the guy was normally ‘docile’, but that the crowds has been affecting him today. He gave us free movie tickets and again, apologized for what happened. Overall, he did great for the shitty situation he suddenly had to deal with.

My poor mom was horribly shaken up. She was about ready to cry and had to sit down for a few minutes to compose herself. I was fine overall. After the initial ‘wtf just happened?’, I was able to calm myself. Though he hit me multiple times, he didn’t really do any damage. No marks or pain. So outside of a torn shirt, I got lucky.

2

Crowds can upset him so the best place to take him is… a movie theatre?

3

But they’re always so empty on Saturdays!! :rolleyes:
AngelSoft, this kid’s minders will keep taking chances w/ him so long as no one calls the cops. I’d have called the cops. The ‘what ifs’ boggle the mind, but the biggest for me is that you could have been armed.

4

That’s frightening. I’m glad you’re all right.

I suspect that mentally disabled fellow has unknowingly drastically reduced the size of his world. There aren’t many outings where crowds aren’t a possibility. I can’t see his caretakers bringing him to the movies (or any other public event) again.

5

My brother thinks we should have called the cops as well. I don’t know. I mean, it didn’t seem to be the right thing to do at the time. The lady with him was just beside herself, she was so upset. And I kept thinking about how much she must have to deal with on a daily basis having to be the caretaker of someone like that. It just seemed like getting the cops involved would cause more harm than good. But on the other hand…if she doesn’t take this as a serious lesson, he might do it again and actually hurt someone next time.

Honestly, what I’m most confused about is why he did what he did. I hadn’t made eye contact with him, hell I hadn’t even looked out him. There were no crowds in the hallway either. It was completely empty except for us.

6

You suspect that. The OP hopes that. But I would have ensured that, by calling the police and filing assault charges. The only protection the public currently has is the judgement of this guy’s caregivers, and it’s proven to be pretty poor. I personally wouldn’t want to hear that the next such episode involved a child or woman or senior citizen where the damage could be more serious, but what always happens is you discover there were many episodes where people let it slide.

7

To be fair, she said the crowd was upsetting him today.

AngelSoft, I am very sorry this happened to you.

I’ve been that caretaker, in a situation where a normally placid mentally retarded guy turned very willful and unpredictable. He didn’t try to hurt anyone but did try to run into the street. It’s scary as shit. But I actually hope artemis is wrong and that people keep trying with him but change their safety strategies. Take him out with 2 strong staff people, for example.

Nawth Chucka, what do you suppose the cops should do? Arrest him for being retarded?

ETA: AngelSoft, can you clarify what you mean by ‘mentally disabled’? I was assuming developmentally, aka mental retardation, but maybe I’m wrong.

8

Maybe she was so upset because he never went so far as to attack someone before. Maybe the worst he ever did was get agitated but not violent. I do agree about not calling the police, I think she got the message loud and clear.

9

I’m sorry, but if it turns out that my assumption of what she means by ‘mentally disabled’ is correct, I’m going to call this as the most ridiculous case of Internet Tough Guy ever. You hear of one incident involving this man and assume that he should never be allowed in public again? One incident of letting this guy out in public shows that his caregivers have “pretty poor” judgment?

Yes, it’s awful that attacked Angel Soft, but your blustering that you would **ensure **that the public never has to face the menace of Mister MR Guy again is pretty ridiculous and makes you sound like you believe that all mentally disabled people should be locked away.

10

No, arrest him for assault, so that when this happens again, and possibly AGAIN, they’ll see a pattern and not brush it off. If no one ever reports this behavior he’ll continue to get away with it until something really bad happens. How do you expect the system to effectively deal with this if no one ever reports it and every time seems like the first time.
No one got hurt THIS time, and if this really is an isolated incident then there’s nothing to worry about, but how would you like to be the person he really hurts only to find out he’s been acting out like this for years and no one ever reported it?

11

Uncontrollably violent mentally disabled people SHOULD be locked away, but we’re never going to know if that’s the case if it’s never reported.

12

You make good points in your previous post and I do agree. The poster I quoted, though, sounded like this guy should never see the light of day again, based on this one incident.

13

Glad you’re ok, but what did you think of the movie?

14

Another vote for calling the police. You were relatively unharmed. But if this guy is unstable and violent, he might do this again and hurt somebody more seriously. Even the guy would be better off getting treatment now rather than after a more serious incident.

15

The person with him was shocked and mortified, it seems, according to the account given here.

Here’s a WAG:

Dude has serious mental problems; may be psychotic. But it’s been well-controlled by meds. (Well, usually.) Crowds are a problem for him. With his “condition” thought to be controlled by meds, doctors recommend that he can be taken out in public, cautiously, as therapy. Possibly they’ve been doing this, with gradually bigger crowds. Possibly even, it’s been going smoothly so far.

Suddenly, meds notwithstanding, he has abrupt “breakthrough” psychotic episode.

My major thread of evidence toward this theory is in the companion’s reaction, as described above.

16

In some states, it is legal to pull a gun and kill people for less.

17

Another vote for calling the cops. Even based on what little is known by the OP, the default assumption is the cops need called. Assault should not be tolerated.

18

It’s easy to second-guess when you’re not the one in the situation.

I’m sorry this happened to you, Angel Soft. I’m so glad you’re ok.

19

Cons of calling the police:

[ul]
[li]Even more agitated mentally ill guy.[/li][li]Even more upset carer.[/li][li]Time wasted on statements etc.[/li][/ul]

Pros of calling the police:

[ul]
[li]???[/li][/ul]

20

The perp was way over the line in that this was violent. Not sure the ramifications are on reporting the incident to the police, and conflictedly have to agree with posters that there should be a paper trail. This was an adult and not a child. If it’s a pattern of behavior, then the treatment, caregivers and/or outings need to be re-evaluated.

I’m conflicted as the parent of a an 8 year old on the autism spectrum.

In addition to being sorry and contrite and I’m sure just absolutely mortified, I’m surprised the caregiver didn’t try to explain what was up with her charge. I have many times explained my daughter is on the autism spectrum, we’re doing the best we can, ask for understanding, and when even slightly warranted I apologize. When warranted the apology comes first and profusely. I find people are generally more accepting when they learn it’s not simply bad parenting and a spoiled child being a brat. But this was an adult. I’m conflictedand also agree with Bozuit. Sorry