Man body-slammed while wearing Minion suit speaks about attack

Suspect says attack was a prank gone wrong

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Surveillance video shows the moment a man dressed as a Minion was attacked while working outside an airbrush store in Daytona Beach on Sunday evening.

Jamie Roehm says he was wearing a Minion costume while working outside Jungle George's Airbrush & More when he was approached by three people. The video shows two men and a woman walking up to Roehm, and then one of the men picks him up, spins him around and then slams him to the ground.

"No matter if they're handicapped or not, nobody should go through this," Roehm said.

Roehm, who is partially blind and refers to himself as handicapped, said his current job as a mascot for the airbrush store is the best he's ever had.

"Where else can you go out, listen to music, do your job, dance and have little kids and families come up to you? It's nothing like it, man," Roehm said.

He was surprised on Sunday when he was approached by a much different audience with a camera. Ryan Nihart, who is now charged with misdemeanor battery and criminal mischief in the attack, posted a video on YouTube Wednesday saying it was all part of a prank gone wrong.

"I would've never did this if I knew I was going to hurt anybody. I did it for the love of you. How was I supposed to know? I thought I had the Minion's consent?" Nihart said in a video filmed while he was driving.

He is a self-proclaimed Instagram star who goes by the name Bouje Ratchet online. He has two Instagram pages, one with 1,877 followers, the other with 2,226 followers.

As for Roehm, he's already back at work and looking forward to making more children smile.

"I'm going to get on with my life and get on with my job, because I love this job way too much to let this affect me," Roehm said.

Warning: Body camera video embedded above contains graphic language. Viewer discretion is advised.


About the Authors

It has been an absolute pleasure for Clay LePard living and working in Orlando since he joined News 6 in July 2017. Previously, Clay worked at WNEP TV in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he brought viewers along to witness everything from unprecedented access to the Tobyhanna Army Depot to an interview with convicted double-murderer Hugo Selenski.

Robert Brown is the assignment manager at News 6. He joined the team in July 2018 as a producer and was promoted in 2020. Before moving to The City Beautiful, he spent six years in Jacksonville at WJXT-TV. Robert graduated from Florida International University with a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism.

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