Florida man body slams partially blind man in a Minion costume in a ‘prank’ gone wrong
Dressing up as a Minion to promote a shop on the Daytona Beach Boardwalk didn’t come with hazard pay.
That’s because neither the store owner nor the partially blind man dressed in character could predict what was about to happen.
According to Daytona Beach police, 25-year-old Ryan Nihart picked up the man who was dressed as a Minion, spun him around and dropped him on the pavement on Sunday evening.
“Nihart was apparently encouraged by a couple of people who watched him harass the victim,” Daytona Beach police said.
The sight-impaired victim was promoting Jungle George’s in the Minion costume when he told police Nihart approached him and started to harrass him, WKMG Click Orlando reported.
He said Nihart started to get rough with him and when he told him to stop, Nihart allegedly picked him up and slammed him onto the pavement, bruising his arm.
Jungle George’s owner told police the Minion suit was also damaged in the attack. Police have not released the surveillance video.
Nihart was charged with criminal mischief and battery and released.
On Tuesday, Nihart posted what he calls an apology on his Facebook page, which apparently includes a promo to his T-shirt company. In part, he posted: “So I do want to apologize to anybody I offended or offend with my situation!!! I was trying to give you guys a funny video with no ill intentions. I mean no harm and still love everyone and just want to make you all happy.”
Soon after his release his girlfriend posted a meme on his Facebook page, using his mugshot and wording that suggested it was a prank that went wrong. “I don’t always do pranks but when I do they go wrong,” it read.
“A misunderstanding,” Nihart wrote in the thread when challenged by someone who took him to task for attacking a disabled person.
Minions are the small, yellow, comical henchmen characters that are shaped like pill capsules in the popular film series “Despicable Me” and its 2015 spin-off film, “Minions.”
This story was originally published July 11, 2018 at 12:41 PM.