18-year-old pleads not guilty in Newport theater scare

A Newport Beach teenager pleaded not guilty Thursday in Orange County Superior Court to three misdemeanor charges related to a prank last summer at a Newport movie theater where police say someone started a panic by bursting through an emergency exit and revving a leaf blower, according to court records.

Colin Hunter Davis, 18, could face up to a year in jail if he is convicted of participating in an unlawful assembly, disturbing the peace and trespassing, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Prosecutors contend that Davis walked into a screening of the thriller “The Gift” at the Edwards Big Newport 6 cinema near Fashion Island without a ticket the night of Aug. 8.

Authorities suspect Davis opened an exit door so a co-conspirator could enter the theater with a leaf blower.

When moviegoers heard the blower’s motor they panicked, thinking it was a chain saw or another type of weapon, according to police. Some people in the audience suffered minor injuries in a stampede to the exits, according to authorities.

Shortly afterward, police said they believed four “persons of interest” were involved in the incident. After authorities released surveillance camera images of the group at an In-N-Out Burger earlier the evening of Aug. 8, all four turned themselves in and began cooperating with investigators, police said.

It’s unclear whether Davis is the only one facing charges. Police said the three other teenagers in the group are juveniles.

Davis is not currently in custody, according to court records.