Robert Chacon
When David Cain took his daughter to see "Brother Bear" at the United
Artists Theatre in La Canada Flintridge, he walked away saying, "Oh,
brother!"
Near the end of the movie, Cain's 9-year-old daughter, Olivia,
found a partially eaten bagel at the bottom of her nearly consumed
bag of popcorn.
"It had the teeth marks in it and everything, that's what made it
so terrible," said Cain, a Glendale resident who works as a
commercial actor.
When Cain asked theater staff how a partially eaten bagel could
have wound up in a bag of popcorn, he said no one could give him an
answer.
The theater does not sell bagels, but a Goldstein's Bagel Bakery
is nearby.
Theater General Manager Ved Samonte did not return phone calls
seeking comment, and theater assistant managers declined to answer
questions.
Cain said he took his daughter to the doctor where she was tested
and given a shot to counter strep throat. Since the alleged incident
in November, Cain has been waiting for an apology and an
acknowledgment that the theater made a mistake.
Instead, the theater's insurance carrier, Liberty Mutual, sent him
a letter on Feb. 24 asking if he would settle the matter for $50.
"That just adds insult to injury," Cain said. "I asked them if I
could stick a needle in their child's arm for $50."
The letter, however, states that Cain and his daughter have not
taken any tests as a result of the incident and do not have any
medical bills or test results to provide the insurance company.
Sandy Cheung, claims adjuster for Liberty Mutual who was assigned
the case, declined to answer questions about the Cains.
"As a parent, all sorts of things go through your mind. I was
freaking out that my daughter could have contracted something from
this three-quarters eaten bagel in her popcorn," Cain said.
Cain said he will continue to wait for an apology from theater
officials.
