Scuffle at Santa Rosa theater prompts new rules against unattended kids on weekend nights

A shakeup is taking place at several movie theaters in Santa Rosa County after an altercation between a small group of teenagers and a Pace woman, Laykyn Disinger.

Now, two theaters — the Breeze Cinema 8 in Gulf Breeze and the Ridge Cinema 8 in Pace — are implementing new rules that stop youth age 15 or and younger from seeing movies on weekend nights without adult supervision.

"The intent with this policy was just to stop parents from leaving kids unattended — just from them dropping their children off and driving away," said Jeremy Jadallah, the operations and marketing director of Ashbrie Cinemas, which owns the two Santa Rosa County theaters among several others, including one in Crestview.

The new policy prohibits anyone 15 or younger from attending movies that begin after 6 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays without being accompanied by someone 25 or older. But Jadallah clarified that staff are willing to consider exceptions for the 25-year-old threshold.

"The intention is not to keep parents from bringing their kids and watching a movie. It's to keep parents from dropping their kids off," Jadallah said "If there's a situation where we have a younger mom or something that wants to bring their child to see a movie, absolutely, we are not going to raise a fuss about (that)."

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Jadallah also pointed out the policy change will only take effect at the two Santa Rosa locations.

In regard to the case involving Disinger, the woman said she was at the Pace theater when a couple of teenagers started to become disruptive during a movie.

"They were just being super unruly — talking loud, cursing, throwing popcorn, kicking seats," Disinger said.

Disinger said a couple in the theater originally reported the teens' behavior to theater staff, who then attempted to kick out the kids before they started to approach the couple. Disinger said she did not know what was going to happen, so she physically stepped between the couple and teen, at which point the arguing began to escalate.

The event culminated in an altercation where Disinger said she was hit and had a bag of popcorn thrown on her by the teens. She began filming the incident and recorded the teens as they left the theater.

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Disinger originally contacted the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office to press charges, but ultimately dropped them.

Now, Disinger said, the kids are conducting community service by helping her at her job as a youth softball and baseball coach.

She said she has been in contact with the children's parents in setting up the community service.

"I'm very at peace with the resolution," Disinger said, adding she believes the new theaters policy is "absolutely necessary."

Sgt. Rich Aloy, the public information officer with the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office, said this was first time his office has reported to a case at that theater. He said the agency has not seen an uptick in cases involving teenage rowdiness, but said he is aware that during seasons like spring break, when kids are out of school, there is a rise in crime.

Jadallah, however, said there has been an accumulation of problems with theater behavior over the past year and a half.

"It's parents just coming by and dropping kids off completely unattended to watch a movie. But, you know, they're young and they're full of energy, and they're not really there to watch a movie," Jadallah said.

Disinger said she, too, has been seeing a similar trend as she has attended movie theaters since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

"I would rather them be somewhere where they're safe, but when it comes to yelling and being verbally abusive to people, that's the problem," Disinger said. "And yes, I've noticed that since COVID, it seems to be that the movie theater has been a playground for parents who just drop their kids off."

Jadallah said he does not see the company wavering on the policy for at least a year, adding he feels the staff at the theaters have become overrun by dropped-off kids on weekends.

"Maybe they (teenagers) behave different when their parents aren't around, when they just don't understand, 'Hey, there's other paying customers here. They’re trying to watch a movie,'" Jadallah said. "And if you're in the auditorium, taking pictures and Snapchatting and talking with all your friends, you're taking the experience away from them."

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pace and Gulf Breeze theaters set limits on unaccompanied youth