Man tries to open beer with pepper spray; 200 people leave cinema in tears

It's legal to drink beer in German movie theaters — but it's probably not a good idea to try to open your beer bottle with a pepper spray canister.

However, that's exactly what a thirsty moviegoer tried doing at a cinema Monday night in the northwestern German town of Osnabrueck.

Instead of opening his beer, the 29-year-old man broke his pepper spray container and some 200 people had to quickly leave the theater in tears.

The cinema's manager told the German news agency dpa on Wednesday that it was "chaos." Still, he kept his head, calling police, offering beverages to moviegoers and opening the windows. He says the movie was restarted after 30 minutes.

Police say so far no moviegoers have complained about eye or breathing problems.