A man arrested outside a Florida movie theater Wednesday morning while wearing makeup like the Joker from the recent Batman movies says he doesn’t understand why his pink hair and black makeup would have caused any alarm. Click below to find out more.
Christopher Sides was pacing outside Melbourne’s Premiere Theater in the makeup, a leather jacket, and boots before a concerned moviegoer called the police.
When officers arrived, the 21-year-old was coming out of the theater’s front exit. He said he didn’t know about this summer’s massacre in Aurora, Colo., where a man with similar dyed hair shot dead 12 people in a movie theater during an opening-night screening of the latest Batman film, “The Dark Knight Rises,” Melbourne Police Department Spokesman Sheridan Shelley told the Daily News.
“This is the first time that I’m aware of this sort of thing happening in Melbourne,” he said.
Sides had purchased a ticket to “The Expendables 2,” an action film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
He had no weapons on him and cooperated with police, who performed a warrant search.
During that search, the officers found an unrelated failure to appear on a previous misdemeanor charge and arrested him for that — not for the Joker outfit, Shelley said.
“My understanding it was a misdemeanor drug paraphernalia charge,” he said.
Sides has been transported to the Brevard County Jail, according to Shelley.
Meanwhile, staff at Premiere Theater have said they will continue to evaluate their security needs.
“We are always vigilant,” said general manager Jim Murrish. “Safety is our number one priority.”
