AMHERST, N.Y. — Chuck E. Cheese's Harlem Road location was given a new game room license at last Monday's Amherst Town Board meeting, but it was hardly a formality.
After a fight broke out in April that was widely shared on social media, Town Board members say company leadership agreed to beef up security, have more cameras and hold additional staff trainings.
"They had some suggestions of what they'd like to do. We had some suggestions of what we'd like to see implemented. Five days later, there's an incident between employees,” said Amherst Town Supervisor Brian Kulpa.
Amherst Police say there was a fight between two female employees on Saturday, leading to one of them being terminated.
Hours later, the fired employee came back with two other women and assaulted the other employee before running off.
A spokesperson for Chuck E. Cheese's released a statement Monday, saying:
“We are aware of a physical altercation that took place on June 9 at our Amherst, NY location between two employees, one being a minor. No guests were involved and the instigating employee was terminated immediately. The safety of our guests and employees is our number one priority and we will continue to work closely with the community to ensure a safe environment for families.”
The incident has the Town Board worried about safety at the popular children's hangout.
"Here we had a teenager who had to go to the hospital to be checked out," said Amherst Town Board Member Jacqui Berger.
Now, the town is sending a tough message to Chuck E. Cheese’s.
"We're going to file a notice, telling them that we're considering revoking the game room license," Kulpa said.
If the town follows through, Chuck E. Cheese’s would still be able to operate as a pizzeria and serve alcohol, but it would not be able to operate the arcade.
In order to take that option off the table, company officials will have to come before the board once again.
"The COO, I understand, is in town for a couple of days, looking to see what's going on at this particular store or venue, and we'll see what they come up with," Berger said.
Ultimately, the town wants to be done with this saga, and focus attention elsewhere.
"We have a lot of important things happening here. We're creating a central park, we're undertaking a comprehensive plan, we're growing our University area, we're taking on the Boulevard Mall as an economic challenge. You know, Chuck E. Cheese’s should be low on our radar," Kulpa said.
The State Liquor Authority said Thursday it is now investigating, and that its enforcement team plans to meet with management there to make sure security is in place to prevent future incidents.