Chuck E. Cheese Employee Busted For Selling To Minors

Suburban Bureau Chief Julie Mann
BATAVIA, Ill. (WBBM)  - A suburban Chuck E. Cheese is in hot water after an employee was caught selling alcohol to a minor. More from WBBM’s suburban bureau chief Julie Mann.

The family entertainment center that uses the advertising slogan, “where a kid can be a kid” was ticketed earlier this month during a routine alcohol compliance operation in west suburban Batavia.

The Chuck E. Cheese restaurant at 511 N. Randall Rd. and El Taco Grande at 1890 Mill St., both in Batavia, is licensed to sell beer.

Detective Shawn Mazza says a Chuck E. Cheese worker allegedly sold to an underage police decoy. The state sometimes sends in high school and college students undercover to check establishments to make sure they are not selling alcohol to anyone under the age of 21.

Mazza says he was astonished the incident happened given that most of the customers were parents with young kids.“I would say that the night of the compliance check when they failed to comply I was surprised by that, as was the rest of the team” said Mazza.

Because of the incident, the Chuck E. Cheese worker will have to appear in court and the liquor license holder will be summoned before the local liquor commission where they could be fined or face a license suspension.

Detective Mazza says in the past six years of conducting alcohol compliance checks Chuck E. Cheese has always been found in compliance.

"It is a serious thing to be serving liquor to kids," said Susan Hofer, spokesperson for the Illinois Liquor Control Commission. "It is a privilege to have a liquor license."