Man In Joker Makeup Arrested At Florida Theater

Police arrested a man wearing Joker makeup at a Florida movie theater Wednesday after calls that the man was behaving in a suspicious manner.

Christopher Sides, 21, was arrested as he exited the Premiere Theatre in Melbourne, Florida. CNN reports that Sides had his face painted like the Joker from the Batman movies and that his hair was dyed pink. He cooperated with police during the arrest and did not make any threats.

Melbourne police received a call that Sides was pacing back and forth in front of and later inside the theater around 10:30 am. Police apprehended Sides and did a warrant search. The New York Daily News reported that the seach brought up an unrelated failure to appear on a previous misdemeanor charge. He was arrested for the failure to appear charge, not for the Joker outfit.

Sides had purchased a ticket to see The Expendables 2 and was not armed.

The incident conjured up images of the July shooting at a Colorado theater when a gunman dressed in riot gear shot and killed 12 people while injuring several others during the premiere of the latest Batman film. That shooter, James Holmes, was also dressed as the Joker.

Melbourne police told the Daily News that Sides claimed not to be aware of the massacre in Aurora, Colorado. The Aurora shootings have sparked an attempted copy cat or two, leading many to give a closer eye to the behavior of others in movie theaters.

“We are always vigilant,” Premiere Theatre general manager Jim Murrish said. “Safety is our number one priority.”

Christopher Sides’ Joker makeup can be seen in his mug shot show above.