An inspector found a dead rodent in a mouse trap in a theater in AMC CityPlace 20 during an inspection Monday, two days after a picture was posted to Facebook of what appeared to rodents in the theater during a Saturday showing of Girls Trip.
The Department of Business and Professional Regulation inspected the theater Monday following a complaint.
WPTV NewsChannel 5 Reporter Amy Lipman had contacted the Florida Department of Health in Palm Beach County Monday about patrons’ reports of seeing rodents in the theater, which were spreading on social media.
The Department of Health passed the inquiry along to the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, which has jurisdiction over this issue.
That DBPR inspection revealed a violation for the accumulation of dead or trapped pests in control devices.
According to the report, one dead rodent was found in a mouse trap behind the screen in theater seven, which is the theater where a Facebook user said she was when she took the viral picture of three rodents.
The report says the operator removed and cleaned the area under the screen masking where the trap was located, so this was corrected on site.
However, a follow-up inspection was required. That was completed Tuesday. That report says there were no rodents in the traps in theater seven at that time.
The report says when asked about this violation during the inspection, a spokesperson for AMC Theatres referred to this statement issued yesterday: “This is an issue we take seriously and in addition to our proactive pest control, we are working with the property manager to ensure better proactive pest control maintenance around the building as well. In this instance, upon being notified of rodents in an auditorium, the theatre team closed the auditorium in question, issued refunds and passes to guests in attendance, and brought in a third-party pest control company to evaluate and treat the affected area.”