Man punched, shoved teen girls dressed as zombies promoting dance production - Sensationalist Headlines

https://www.ksl.com/article/46410790/police-man-punched-shoved-teen-girls-dressed-as-zombies-promoting-dance-production Park City police say five teen girls dressed as zombies were promoting Odyssey Dance Theatre's annual production of "Thriller" by scaring pedestrians on Main Street. But when the girls tried to scare Drew Stephen Hyde, he responded by punching and shoving the girls, according to a Summit County Jail booking report. Hyde, 56, of Henderson, Nev., was arrested and later charged in 3rd District Court with five counts of child abuse, a class A misdemeanor. As Hyde walked by with his family, he told a 14-year-old girl "if you touch my daughter I will punch you," according to the report. He "then punched her on the left side of her face," the report states. A 16-year-old girl told police she watched Hyde "shove two other girls down the stairs then come and 'shoved my back down the stairs,'" according to the report. Hyde told another 16-year-old girl, "if you (expletive) touch me I will knock you out" before he grabbed her "by the back of the neck and shoved her down the stairs," the report states. A 15-year-old girl said Hyde told her "'if any of you touch me I'll (expletive) you up' and then proceeded to grab her by the back of the neck and pushed her down the stairs,'" while the fifth girl, 13, gave a similar story that Hyde "walked up to her and told her if she touched him he would 'effing' knock her out" before he proceeded to punch the girl in the chest, the report states. Follow up article: 'I didn't see children, I saw zombies,' said man accused of atta.. Hyde, a former college football player who is 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 230 pounds, said he used restraint, adding that if he had actually attacked anyone the injuries would have been worse. "I reacted that way because my daughter was hysterical. She's always feared clowns. I knew they weren't real zombies, obviously. But she was just hysterical," he said. Furthermore, because of the zombie makeup, Hyde said he couldn't tell if he was being approached by males, females, adults or teens. "I didn't see children. I saw zombies," he said. According to a statement from Odyssey Dance Theatre issued Monday, "Our policy was and has been this, that the zombies can circulate amongst the patrons to entertain them and if the presence is not welcomed, then the zombies withdraw." Definitely sounds like a massive overreaction (and potential anger/aggression issues) by the guy. Even if the girls didn't stop acting as the Theater's policy, he and his family could've just left the area. There is no way you can honestly consider teenage girls (acting like zombies or not) a threat requiring physical blows and pushing down stairs.

seems like he's a little short on brains himself

"I'M THE ONE YOU WANT! TAKE ME INSTEAD!" *pokes and prods, peers into ears* *shuffling away* "Braaaaaaains..."

these are the absolute worst kinds of parents. fucking stupid juiceheads who set such a fine example for their kids by threatening to beat people up

The local news site where I live covered this story, and a lot of the comments on the article are people defending the guy by saying "yeah I mean they were being annoying and not discrete at all." Like, I understand telling them to back off in certain circumstances and all that, but how the fuck you gonna be okay with some dad rocking the shit out of 5 teenage girls promoting a show? Zero danger at all posed to the guy and some people are defending him. How does that even work?

I mean i suppose it depends on the circumstances. There's plenty of examples of people being startled and punching out of fight or flight. It's one thing if someone startles you and you throw a punch, its another if they are blatantly being "spooky" and you throw one at them.

The guys argument is it was in the alley beside the theater, it was dark with his daughter and they came crawling on all 4s acting naturally like psycho zombies and it was 6 weeks before halloween and they had no idea a theater was there. The daughter was also apparently screaming like crazy during all this as well and he said "because of the make up and darkness I couldn't see who it was or intentions". So it seems to be a big misunderstanding, though I am not 100% sure since he also flat out stated he pulled his punches which seems correct judging by the light injuries to the girls, which would imply he knew they were not true threats and he was just pissed off they terrified his daughter on her birthday and probably thought they were older/unsure if men because of the make up.

Oh my god I've seen Thriller at the Odyssey. This guy is a real wank, the actors just cavort outside and have fun. They don't even get too close to you. Its like how a troupe of performers might tumble and jape outside the theater to get attention. What a 'tard