He was skateboarding inside a Florida mall. Then came ‘Paul Blart,’ cops say

Deputies arrested a skateboarder who was causing a ruckus at a Vero Beach mall.

They came to the mall Tuesday on a disturbance call and made contact with Patrick Thompson, 23.

The suspect told officers that he was unaware that skateboarding wasn’t allowed inside the Indian River Mall, but was chastised by a security guard.

Thompson said after dismounting his board, the guard who he referred to as “Paul Blart” — after the 2009 Kevin James comedy of the same name — told him, “You’re going to jail, punk.”

It’s unclear if the mall cop, Sean Pisanelli, was on a Segway, the means of transport for the character in the film.

Pisanelli had a different story: He told Indian River County deputies that Thompson had been “swearing” and causing a scene outside the food court. Several families with children were at the court, the report noted. One woman looked “disgusted,” read the arrest affidavit.

When a mother and child walked by during the deputies’ conversation with Thompson, he uttered the F-word, added the complaint.

The skateboarder was charged with disorderly conduct and trespassing, and booked into the county jail on $1,000 bond.

This story was originally published September 20, 2019 at 4:15 PM.