A Florida moviegoer was brutally beaten after being attacked by a man sitting in seats he had already reserved.
27-year-old Jesse Montez Thorton II was reportedly seen violently attacking 63-year-old Marc Cohen at the AMC theater in Pompano Beach, Florida, in a ‘heartless’ attack that was all caught on another’s cell phone customer.
Cohen was about to watch a movie with his wife when he saw another couple sitting in their pre-assigned seats on July 10.
After politely asking them to move, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office says Thorton suddenly became “hostile” toward Cohen’s simple request.
The footage shows Thorton getting up and deliberately getting into Cohen’s face.
A Florida moviegoer was brutally attacked after asking a couple sitting in his assigned seats to move
Marc Cohen, 63, lost his balance and tumbled down the stairs after the person he asked to move stood up in his face
Once Cohen was on the ground, he was reportedly punched by Thorton
Jesse Montez Thorton II, 27, allegedly brutally attacked Marc Cohen, 63, over seats Cohen had already reserved at a Florida movie theater in July
Cohen then lost his balance on the theater’s aisle steps.
But Thorton wasn’t done yet as he started punching Cohen in the face several times.
Shocked theatergoers ran down the stairs to Cohen’s assistant and tried to separate the two men.
Thorton did not stick around and moments later he was seen fleeing the scene with his date.
Surveillance camera footage from the theater shows him rushing to the exit with his female companion.
Thorton did not stick around and moments later he was seen fleeing the scene with his date
Theater surveillance footage managed to capture clear photos of Thorton and his date
“I just don’t understand people, how they behave like this – there’s no civility anymore,” Coehn said Room 10 after the incident.
Cohen said he simply told Thorton, “Excuse me, you guys are in our seats.”
“He said, ‘Go to your wife, little boy.’ I said, ‘You’re the little boy acting like that,'” Cohen recalled.
“I was standing on the stairs and he kept banging on my head, and I couldn’t get him off me to do that,” he said.
“He jumped up, he wanted to fight me, he backed me up, I fell over the stairs and as soon as I fell down the stairs it was like a boxer against the ropes, this guy just went to town for me,” Cohen said NBC6.
Thorton remained at large for the past two months, but police managed to track him down Thursday after receiving an anonymous tip and later arrested him in Fort Lauderdale.
Thorton faces a charge of aggravated assault causing great bodily harm and is in jail in lieu of $250,000 bail, in what police have described as a “callous” attack.
Thorton was seen with a bloodied and battered forehead and his hair soaked in blood
Cohen was also seen with a huge bump on his head after his fall
He was also left with his shirt and hands covered in blood
Cohen was left with a bloody head and face. Photos taken shortly after the attack show him with a huge bump on his bruised and battered forehead while his shirt was covered in blood.
He was later taken to hospital for treatment.
“Broward County Sheriff’s Office detectives have been working on this case for months,” Claudinne Caro said.
“The video and information about this callous attack received national and international media attention and generated leads, including an anonymous tip through Broward Crime Stoppers.”