Man Charged With Slapping Loud Kid in Washington Theater
An Auburn man accused of smacking a loud 10-year-old at a Kent movie theater could face months in jail if convicted of the felony assault charge now filed against him.
King County prosecutors contend 21-year-old Yong Hyun Kim knocked out one of the boy’s teeth after the child and several other youths refused to quiet down and stop throwing popcorn in April.
According to charging documents, Kim admitted to hitting the boy and appeared ashamed when confronted by police with the boy’s age. Kim allegedly said he thought the boy was an adult when he slapped him in the face.
At 10:40 p.m. on April 11, Kent police were called to the AMC Theater at 426 Ramsay Way following a complaint that a man had attacked a child there.
Officers arrived to find to find the 10-year-old, his mother and several friends in the theater lobby. The boy was bleeding from the nose and missing a tooth.
The boy told police he wasn’t sure why Kim struck him. He said he was seated in the theater when a man with “long hair and … 3D glasses” stepped over a row of seats and confronted him.