Ohio Haunted House Actor Charged After Stabbing 11-Year-Old Boy by ‘Accident’

An actor who performed at a haunted house in Ohio has been charged after stabbing an 11-year-old boy with a real knife.

As reported by News 5 Cleveland, at about 8:15 p.m. on Saturday, Berea, Ohio, officers were called to the 7 Floors of Hell haunted house at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds in response to a call about a male stabbed in the foot.

At the scene, officials spoke to staff members and learned that an 11-year-old boy, later identified by his mom Karen Bednarski as Frank, suffered a cut on his left big toe after attending the event with a family friend.

Per News 5 Cleveland as well as the Washington Post, an actor who was roaming outside of the house, identified as 22-year-old Christopher Pogozelski, was using a large Bowie knife as a prop to scare people.

According to reports, Pogozelski was scraping the knife on the ground and then began to stab the ground at the boy’s feet when the knife pierced the boy’s Croc-style shoe and cut his left foot.

“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,’” Bednarski told News 5.

She added to the Post, “So the man was like, ‘Oh, it’s real. Trust me, it’s real.’ And that’s when he started poking it at his feet multiple times until he stabbed him.”

After the incident, one of the adults with Frank called Bednarski, who then called police.

“I’m highly upset,” Bednarski said, adding that the staff reportedly kept telling her and her family, “They just kept saying accidents happen, accidents happen.”

Per reports, staff at the haunted house applied first aid to Frank’s toe, which was bleeding slightly.

However, Bednarski claimed to News 5 that they allegedly initially denied first aid.

“They told me that they were not certified to administer first aid,” she alleged.

At the scene, cops confiscated the knife from the actor, who told police he had brought it from home and used it instead of the provided prop knives.

He also allegedly admitted to officers that “using the knife was not a good idea and that the injury was an accident.”

While speaking to News 5, Rodney Geffert, the president of Night Scream Entertainment, which owns 7 Floors of Hell, claims Pogozelski went back to his car that night and grabbed the Bowie knife without the company’s knowledge.

Geffert asserts that the incident was an accident and told the Post that Pogozelski  — who was eventually fired — “apologized nonstop” following the event. (Per News 5, Bednarski does not believe it was an accident.)

“I guess he got a little too close. It was a complete accident and poked the boy’s toe,” Geffert told News 5.

Additionally, Geffert told News 5 and the Post that actors are instructed never to touch customers and to use rubber props.

Lt. Tom Walker with the Berea Police Department confirmed to News 5 that Pogozelski has since been charged with negligent assault over the incident.

“I can’t explain why he brought the real knife,” Walker said. “He should have been using a fake prop or rubber, rubber knife. 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.”