WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Reports of possible rodents in the AMC movie theater in CityPlace Saturday night are spreading on social media.
“I started seeing people jumping up and down, feet going up in the air,” said Gina Morton, who was in the theater at the time. “And then it just got worse.”
One Facebook user shared a photo identifying what appeared to be three rodents in the theater during a 9:50 p.m. showing of Girls Trip Saturday. That post has been shared more than 1,300 times as of noon Monday.
One of the people who shared that Facebook post told WPTV News Reporter Amy Lipman that she saw half of the people in the theater run out in fear. She said rodents had apparently run across people’s feet sitting in the front rows.
She said she stayed for the rest of the movie because she was sitting higher up in the theater, but she saw “little critters,” or what appeared to look like mice, scurrying across the floor when she exited. She said she asked for a refund for the disturbance, but she has not received it yet.
Morton is also waiting on her refund. She said she waited for it in an hour-long line, which was also pictured on social media. She said people were also given free tickets.
A representative of the PR firm for CityPlace deferred inquires to AMC because it’s the tenant’s property.
AMC Theatres responded to a complaint on the AMC Theatres Facebook page saying, “I’m sorry to hear about this - please be assured my teams are investigating.”
Ryan Noonan, director of corporate communications for AMC Theatres, said Monday:
“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.”
The Palm Beach County Health Department said that the theater is under the jurisdiction of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation and our inquiry has been passed along to it.
An employee of DBPR said the department inspects food areas, such as concession stands, in movie theaters
DBPR does routine inspections. The most recent inspection for 545 Hibiscus Street, labeled as Muvico Parisian 20, was done in August 2016. That inspection revealed several violations, including “live, small flying insects in kitchen, food preparation area, or food storage area. Area surrounding ice machine.”
However, none of the inspections from the last three years mentioned violations for rodents.
The department has no recent complaints about this business.