31 August 2023
A 19-year-old Eagan man was sentenced Wednesday to six days in the Dakota County jail and three years of probation for setting off an aerial firework in an Eagan movie theater last year — a blast that injured two people, including an 11-month-old infant, and sent panicked moviegoers running for the exits.
Approximately 40 people were in an Emagine Eagan auditorium for the horror-thriller “The Black Phone” when Khalid Bedel Hassan lit the firework and threw it just before 8:30 p.m. July 12, 2022, according to a criminal complaint.
Khalid Bedel Hassan. (Courtesy of the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office)
In May, Hassan pleaded guilty as charged to four felonies — threats of violence, third-degree assault and two counts of first-degree criminal damage to property — and one count of misdemeanor fifth-degree assault.
Both victims were seated in the handicap area of the auditorium. The infant sustained burns on her cheeks and nose. The other had multiple cuts on her leg and was later referred to a wound clinic for the removal of debris and infected tissue.
Police officers noted several people were visibly upset afterward and that they believed it was gunfire and they were going to be killed, the charges said.
The explosion burned the theater’s screen and carpet. Damage was estimated at more than $1,000.
Surveillance from the theater, as well as a 6-second cellphone video recorded by the suspects and later posted to social media, shows four young males entering the auditorium a few minutes before the firework goes off. One, identified later as Hassan, is seen walking down the aisle, lighting the firework and then throwing it into the area directly in front of the handicap row, the charges said.
The firework explodes moments later. Three suspects run, while the fourth stays in the auditorium and continues to film the aftermath. Several people ran “out of the theater in a panic,” the charges said.
Eagan police arrested Hassan nine days later. In an interview with police, Hassan admitted to lighting the firework and throwing it, the complaint says. He also identified himself in the recorded footage.
Shown remorse
Judge Cynthia McCollum on Wednesday dismissed the criminal damage to property charges and ordered a stay of imposition on the other charges, meaning the court accepted Hassan’s guilty plea but did not impose a prison term. If Hassan successfully follows his probation order, the felony convictions will be deemed a misdemeanor under state law.
The sentence was a downward departure from state sentencing guidelines, which Hassan’s attorney, William Bailey, said was recommended in a pre-sentence investigation. Bailey noted that Hassan, who turned 18 a month prior to the incident, has taken responsibility for his conduct and shown remorse. He also had no prior criminal record.
The judge also ordered Hassan to perform 40 community work service hours as directed by his probation officer.
He will serve his six days in jail in two-day increments for the next three months, beginning in late September.
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