Teens mob Waterfront Loews; 8 charged
More action in cineplex lobby Saturday than on its screens
Tuesday, December 28, 2004

By Ed Blazina, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



It seems like an innocent holiday option: spending Christmas at the movie theater.

But if West Homestead police have their way, Loews Cineplex at The Waterfront shopping complex will be closed for the Easter and Christmas holidays next year after the theater had a "full-blown melee" Saturday night.

A spokesman for Loews said the company probably would prefer to take additional steps to provide security on holidays rather than close the complex.

West Homestead Police Chief Dave Ausburn said hundreds of unruly teens overran the theater complex early Christmas evening, disrupting patrons trying to watch movies and wreaking havoc in the massive lobby.

Extra police officers on duty as a result of previous holiday problems arrested eight juveniles for disorderly conduct, and one had a charge of assault added for a fight with another patron inside a theater. No one else was injured.

Because of the problems, which began about 6:30 p.m., the theater quit selling tickets about 9:30 p.m. and canceled eight shows, Ausburn said.

Customers who were turned away -- many of them teenagers who had been dropped off by adults and had no immediate ways to get home -- then began causing problems outside until police officers could gain control of the situation, he said.

"We thought we had things under control [by assigning extra officers], but then the theater was overrun," Ausburn said. "The kids just totally overran that theater."

Historically, he said, Christmas has been the most difficult day at the theater, followed by Easter. On a regular weekend, he has one officer paid by Loews to work at the theater to handle problems.

Last year, that was boosted to three officers on Christmas Day, Ausburn said, but they couldn't handle the crowds.

After meeting with Loews' corporate officials early this month, Ausburn said, the company and police decided to have 12 officers on duty from 4 p.m. to midnight, including two with police dogs. West Homestead opened the detail to officers from neighboring Homestead and Munhall so there would be enough officers available.

Officers were stationed at strategic points throughout the 22-screen complex, which opened in May 2000.

It wasn't enough.

"Early in the evening, we thought it was overkill [to have that many officers]," said Ausburn, who was on duty himself to oversee officers.

"But then they started coming about 6 to 6:30. We were outnumbered about 60 to 1. Prior to closing the doors, they simply overran the front doors. It was just a total melee in front of that theater."

In addition to dealing with patrons who arrived as much as an hour before their movie was to start, police had to go into individual auditoriums to settle unruly customers, Ausburn said. As soon as they settled one auditorium, they would be called to another.

"We actually had people cheering when we would remove people from the theater," he said. "People pay good money to go to the movies and they shouldn't have to put up with that."

Eventually, police closed the theater and moved the crowd across the street, where many had to wait outside for rides. Ausburn estimated there were 900 people escorted out of the theater lobby.

Lynn Mason, of Highland Park, said she was upset with the way police handled the situation.

A family friend dropped off her daughters, Tahsha, 14, and India, 13, to see the suspense movie "Darkness" about 7:45 p.m. When the movie they planned to see was sold out, she said, they decided to wait for a later show, but they were ushered out of the complex when police closed it down.

"They thought they were going to a movie, so they weren't prepared to be out in the cold," she said.

Mason said her daughters didn't see any fights or other problems except for the large crowd. Their ride eventually took them home without incident, she said.

John McCauley, senior vice president of marketing for Loews, said the company had shown its concern for safety by increasing the number of officers after previous problems.

The problems Saturday, he said, were caused by "a few patrons who chose to misbehave."

"It was a very unusual circumstance," he said. "Across the [country], that's not a situation we see. Unfortunately, it turned out not to be a very good movie experience because the actions of a few ruined it for the rest."

Ausburn said police are scheduled to meet with corporate security personnel for Loews on Jan. 5 to discuss the incident. He said he will "strongly encourage" the theater to remain closed in the future on Easter and Christmas.

Loews will do all it can to keep the theater complex open and safe for patrons, McCauley said.

"Usually, those are pretty good movie days," he said. "We feel very strongly about people who want to see the movie being able to see it when they want to and in safe circumstances. We're hopeful this unusual situation doesn't occur again."

At busy times such as holidays, McCauley encouraged patrons to buy tickets in advance by computer through the Fandango service, which would assure seats and show whether a time has been sold out without the customer going to the theater.

In other cities such as New York, he said, most tickets are sold online in advance, so customers know it would be difficult to buy them at the box office, which holds down the number of patrons waiting for the next show time.

"We thought we had things under control [by assigning extra officers], but then the theater was overrun," Ausburn said. "The kids just totally overran that theater."