You May Never Go To The Movies Again: Bedbug Infestation Forces California Theater To Shut Doors

A movie theater in Lodi, California, has been forced to temporarily close its doors after a bedbug infestation. Two teenagers who are covered in bedbugs bites claim they got them while sitting in movie a theater in Lodi.

The two girls went to movie late Friday night at the Lodi Stadium 12 Cinema according to CBS 6.

“When we woke up in the next morning, we looked at each other and saw that we had all these red bumps all over us,” one of the girls said.

Family members of the girls state that they contacted the movie theater manager on Saturday morning, but Saturday afternoon there were still moviegoers sitting in the same infested seats. At 2:00pm when the movie in the auditorium in question was over, the manager searched the room. Matthew Wendt, a family member of one of the teens, says that the manager found bedbugs.

“At around 2 o’clock when the movie got out, he called me and said they actually found bed bugs inside the theater.”

More victims of the movie theater bedbug infestation have come forward claiming bites from the bugs. Movie goer Stephanie Booth told CBS 6,

“It was a really bad rash on my arms and on my legs too. From where you’re sitting, from where my skin was touching the seat.”

KTLA 5 reports that a pest control company found “”small pockets of bedbugs in limited areas of our theater,” according to Catherine DePrima, a spokeswoman for Santa Rosa Entertainment Group, which operates the theater.

The Santa Rosa Entertainment Group released an official statement Monday afternoon:

“On Saturday we were made aware of a negative experience one family of viewers had this Friday August 15, 2014 at our Lodi Stadium 12 Theaters. Our customers are our first priority so we acted as quickly as possible to identify any environmental concerns that may exist. We immediately closed the Auditorium in question to investigate, and as a further precaution, closed the entire theater on Sunday to allow for a more thorough inspection. Today, Monday August 18, we had a professional extermination team in to inspect the entire theatre including all public and private spaces. There was limited evidence of insect activity in a few auditoriums and we are entering a three-stage eradication phase during which time our theaters will be closed to the public. We fully expect to be open again with an all clear on Thursday August 21, 2014.

We are committed to providing a healthy and fun environment in which our customers can enjoy their entertainment experience to the fullest. We take any concerns that are brought to our attention very seriously and we look forward to enjoying the movies with you very soon.“

This isn’t the first time bedbugs were found in a public space, bedbugs were found on the N Train in New York City earlier this month.

Does this change your opinion of movie theaters? Did you know that bedbugs could be a potential problem in the movie theater?