JyPsy
11-19-2006, 11:08 PM
No more fun and games?
Alderman wants south side Chuck E. Cheese to close after violence
By BOB PURVIS
bpurvis@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Nov. 9, 2006
A Milwaukee alderman wants to shut down a south side Chuck E. Cheese's, the family-themed pizza joint better known for its arcade games and jungle gyms than its armed guards.
Restaurant Security
A Milwaukee alderman wants to shut down this south side location of the chain.
Quotable
I feel that that Chuck E. Cheeses is a threat to the health, safety and welfare of the community.
- Milwaukee Ald. Tony Zielinski
"I feel that that Chuck E. Cheese's is a threat to the health, safety and welfare of the community," said 14th District Ald. Tony Zielinski. "In fact, a police officer I talked to said it could be just a matter of time until a shooting takes place."
Police were called to the restaurant chain's 2701 S. Chase Ave. location 18 times in June and July on calls ranging from theft and car burglaries to a fight involving 40 people that took 11 officers and three police sergeants to defuse.
That fight led to a meeting with Zielinski, a District 2 police captain, a community prosecutor and restaurant management in early September to work on a plan to curb crime there, the alderman said.
A month later, police were called to a fight that started over teenagers using the basketball game. Police who went to the scene were threatened, and one officer was hit by a steel napkin dispenser thrown by a teenager on one side of the fight at someone on the other, according to police reports.
Around the same time, restaurant security began carrying guns, Zielinski said.
"When people envision a Chuck E. Cheese's, they envision a nice, pleasant safe environment," Zielinski said. "This Chuck E. Cheese's is anything but that, and I blame the company for that."
An employee at Chuck E. Cheese's said the manager was gone for the day. Several calls to CEC Entertainment Corp., Chuck E. Cheese's parent company in Texas, were not returned Thursday.
Zielinski, who recently pushed for a truancy crackdown at a Bay View McDonald's, prompted by neighbors' complaints, said he will ask to have the Chuck E. Cheese's liquor license pulled when the city licensing committee meets in January.
"I told them that they should surrender their license because I believe liquor is certainly one of the contributing factors," Zielinski said. A 16-ounce beer goes for $3.99 at the restaurant.
If the effort to stop beer sales fails, Zielinski said, he will target the business' arcade license.
It's not the first time one of the company's restaurants, which have a giant mouse mascot, robotic animal band stage shows and the slogan "Where a kid can be a kid," has raised the ire of Milwaukee-area politicians and police.
In 2003, the Town Board in Brookfield asked the restaurant's Blue Mound Road location to hire private security and complained that they were being called to the restaurant so frequently it had affected the town's safety.
On Oct. 6 at the Bay View location, an argument that broke out between two teenagers over an arcade basketball game ended in a melee with nearly 20 people involved. The two women who called police that day agree the location is a trouble spot.
"Oh, my God, I'll never go back there again," said Veronica Grady, who was about to sing "Happy Birthday" to her 9-year-old daughter when the fight erupted. "They were throwing pans at each other, napkin holders, everything."
Kimberly Jones was at her nephew's party the day of the fight. She hadn't been to that location in four years, and she said she'll steer clear of it in the future.
Still, she says, she's been to other restaurants in the chain and not run into problems.
Jones believes the problem at Chase Ave. is that over the years it's changed from kid party central to a teenage hangout.
"I don't think they should shut it down, but I think they should try and get some better security to try and handle the security better . . . they only had two people," Jones said.
http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/news/img/nov06/chucky111006.jpg
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Jypsy's Take:
Wow, this is the one i grew up at and have tons of photos from. Used to be a PTT as well :(
I have to admit the chase ave store isn't a great area, but man.........it wasn't that bad.
Its funny how somehow CeC is viewed as a "teen hangout" when the company is constantly catering to the younger and younger crowds.
armed security guards?? and complaining there are only two???? Yikes.
Ah well, at least the one out here with studio c Cappa is relatively peaceful, if not tiny.
Alderman wants south side Chuck E. Cheese to close after violence
By BOB PURVIS
bpurvis@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Nov. 9, 2006
A Milwaukee alderman wants to shut down a south side Chuck E. Cheese's, the family-themed pizza joint better known for its arcade games and jungle gyms than its armed guards.
Restaurant Security
A Milwaukee alderman wants to shut down this south side location of the chain.
Quotable
I feel that that Chuck E. Cheeses is a threat to the health, safety and welfare of the community.
- Milwaukee Ald. Tony Zielinski
"I feel that that Chuck E. Cheese's is a threat to the health, safety and welfare of the community," said 14th District Ald. Tony Zielinski. "In fact, a police officer I talked to said it could be just a matter of time until a shooting takes place."
Police were called to the restaurant chain's 2701 S. Chase Ave. location 18 times in June and July on calls ranging from theft and car burglaries to a fight involving 40 people that took 11 officers and three police sergeants to defuse.
That fight led to a meeting with Zielinski, a District 2 police captain, a community prosecutor and restaurant management in early September to work on a plan to curb crime there, the alderman said.
A month later, police were called to a fight that started over teenagers using the basketball game. Police who went to the scene were threatened, and one officer was hit by a steel napkin dispenser thrown by a teenager on one side of the fight at someone on the other, according to police reports.
Around the same time, restaurant security began carrying guns, Zielinski said.
"When people envision a Chuck E. Cheese's, they envision a nice, pleasant safe environment," Zielinski said. "This Chuck E. Cheese's is anything but that, and I blame the company for that."
An employee at Chuck E. Cheese's said the manager was gone for the day. Several calls to CEC Entertainment Corp., Chuck E. Cheese's parent company in Texas, were not returned Thursday.
Zielinski, who recently pushed for a truancy crackdown at a Bay View McDonald's, prompted by neighbors' complaints, said he will ask to have the Chuck E. Cheese's liquor license pulled when the city licensing committee meets in January.
"I told them that they should surrender their license because I believe liquor is certainly one of the contributing factors," Zielinski said. A 16-ounce beer goes for $3.99 at the restaurant.
If the effort to stop beer sales fails, Zielinski said, he will target the business' arcade license.
It's not the first time one of the company's restaurants, which have a giant mouse mascot, robotic animal band stage shows and the slogan "Where a kid can be a kid," has raised the ire of Milwaukee-area politicians and police.
In 2003, the Town Board in Brookfield asked the restaurant's Blue Mound Road location to hire private security and complained that they were being called to the restaurant so frequently it had affected the town's safety.
On Oct. 6 at the Bay View location, an argument that broke out between two teenagers over an arcade basketball game ended in a melee with nearly 20 people involved. The two women who called police that day agree the location is a trouble spot.
"Oh, my God, I'll never go back there again," said Veronica Grady, who was about to sing "Happy Birthday" to her 9-year-old daughter when the fight erupted. "They were throwing pans at each other, napkin holders, everything."
Kimberly Jones was at her nephew's party the day of the fight. She hadn't been to that location in four years, and she said she'll steer clear of it in the future.
Still, she says, she's been to other restaurants in the chain and not run into problems.
Jones believes the problem at Chase Ave. is that over the years it's changed from kid party central to a teenage hangout.
"I don't think they should shut it down, but I think they should try and get some better security to try and handle the security better . . . they only had two people," Jones said.
http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/news/img/nov06/chucky111006.jpg
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Jypsy's Take:
Wow, this is the one i grew up at and have tons of photos from. Used to be a PTT as well :(
I have to admit the chase ave store isn't a great area, but man.........it wasn't that bad.
Its funny how somehow CeC is viewed as a "teen hangout" when the company is constantly catering to the younger and younger crowds.
armed security guards?? and complaining there are only two???? Yikes.
Ah well, at least the one out here with studio c Cappa is relatively peaceful, if not tiny.