11-Year-Old Boy Accidentally Stabbed At Haunted House Attraction By Scare Actor

An 11-year-old child was accidentally stabbed using a real knife by a scare actor at a haunted house attraction in Berea, Ohio, last weekend, police said.

The stabbing occurred when the boy was about to enter the 7 Floors of Hell haunted house at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds in Berea on the evening of Sept. 18, WOIO reported.

Police were called to the attraction for a report of a boy stabbed in the foot. They were told by witnesses that one of the actors working outside the haunted house, identified as 22-year-old Christopher Pogozelski, was using a large bowie knife as a prop to scare people, News 5.

The actor approached the boy and attempted to stab the ground as a scare tactic. However, he accidentally cut through the victim’s Croc-style shoe, police said. The boy’s left toe was cut.

The boy was treated at the scene, but he reportedly refused further medical attention. The boy went on to continue through the haunted house attraction.

The actor later told police that he had brought the knife from home. The haunted house had supplied prop knives for actors, but he chose not to use one.

The actor admitted to officers that “using the knife was not a good idea and that the injury was an accident.”

Officers confiscated the knife, which was taken as property in connection with the incident.

The boy's mother, Karen Bednarski, told News 5 that her son went to the haunted house with his sister and family friends to have some fun. But she said things turned scary when they encountered one of the actors outside.

“He walked up to my son and he was holding the knife and his intentions were to scare him, but my son responded to him by saying, ‘That's fake. I'm not scared,’” said Bednarski.

The boy's mother suggested it was not an accident, but Rodney Geffert, the president of Night Scream Entertainment, which owns 7 Floors of Hell, insisted that it was.

“I guess he got a little too close. it was a complete accident and poked the boy’s toe,” Geffert said.

Geffert explained that actors were not allowed to touch customers and can only use the rubber props provided by the company. However, he claimed that Pogozelski went back to his car and grabbed the bowie knife that night without their knowledge.

Lt. Tom Walker with the Berea Police Department confirmed that Pogozelski has been charged with negligent assault in connection with the incident.

"He should have been using a fake prop or rubber knife. [It was] obviously a poor decision on his part to bring a real knife to the fairgrounds. And he's been criminally charged with negligent assault as a result of making that decision," Walker told News 5.