All of the Horrible Things That Have Happened at Chuck E. Cheese

Jacob Shelton
Updated April 22, 2024 1.1M views 18 items

Chuck E. Cheese's is supposed to be a family friendly place where you can take your kids and let them run around like maniacs while you eat pizza and sigh with the other parents who are too tired to speak. But for some reason, some of the most insane things happen at Mr. Cheese’s restaurant. Most of the Chuck E. Cheese horror stories on this list sound like they’re straight out of a Law & Order writer’s nightmares, but they’re all true. You’re going to think twice about taking the family out for pizza and skee ball after reading about all of these horrible things that have happened at Chuck E. Cheese's.

For whatever reason, Chuck E. Cheese crimes tend to fall into some of the most violent and gross categories of unlawful offenses that exist. Whether it’s creepy dudes smoking heroin in the bathroom, or creepy dudes taking pictures of kids, all of these Chuck E. Cheese stories are definitely going to activate your ick factor. If there are any lessons to be learned from this list of true and terrible things that have happened at Chuck E. Cheese's, it’s that you should keep an eye on your kids, and never trust cartoon mice – no matter how cute they may be.

After you finish reading about all of these horrible crimes that took place at Chuck E. Cheese's, tell everyone about your own run-ins with Mr. Cheese. Did he take pity on you? Or did he make you clean the ball pit?

  • Massive Brawl Breaks Out In Connecticut

    Massive Brawl Breaks Out In Connecticut

    After being told to "tone it down" by a manager, a 12-person brawl broke out after two women bumped into each other. No children were injured during the incident and police have not made any arrests.
  • Tire Flies Through Window, Injuring Three

    In 2015 a 63-year-old woman drove her car into a ditch and hit a telephone pole causing the tires to fly off her car and go through the window of a nearby Chuck E. Cheese's, injuring three kids who were treated on the scene.
  • Malfunctioning Photo Machine Leads To Aggravated Assault

    Malfunctioning Photo Machine Leads To Aggravated Assault

    In Parma, OH, five Chuck E. Cheese's employees were attacked by a group of people who were angry over a malfunctioning photo machine. One of the employees said that he was slammed into a table and was on the receiving end of an uppercut from one of the customers.

    By the time the police arrived the culprits had run away.

  • Fistfight Breaks Out Over Stolen Cellphone

    While visiting Chuck E. Cheese's with two children, Wanda Jackson attempted to steal another woman's phone and got into a fight over the piece of tech. The police report says that the victim spit in Jackson's face and that's when things got hairy. Jackson was charged with third-degree assault.
  • Man Picks Up The Wrong Child After Eating Pizza

    It was bound to happen at least once, and in January 2016 a man literally picked up the wrong kid from Chuck E. Cheese's and almost walked away with him before realizing that he was holding the wrong child.
  • Skee Ball Fight Ends With Assault Charges

    After a grown woman pushed a two year old who was playing skee ball, the two year old's mother decided to make things real and get into a fist fight with the other woman. The women fell into the skee ball machine and had to be broken up by the Chuck E. Cheese's staff.
  • Things Don't Go Well For Knife-Wielding Man In Chuck E. Cheese's

    If anything, this story of a man who tried to bring a knife into a children's restaurant and ended up catching a beat down from a local sheriff should serve as fable for all of those unhinged guys who think they'll be the one person who sneaks a knife into a children's birthday party.
  • Two Men Arrested For Smoking Heroin In Chuck E. Cheese's Bathroom

    Maybe these two guys didn't realize that Chuck E. Cheese's has skee ball, but in 2014 Collin Zborowski and Daniel Lubach were busted for smoking heroin in the bathroom of a Costa Mesa, CA location. A Chuck E. Cheese's spokesperson told the press, "We cannot begin to express the combination of sorrow and anger that we feel about adults engaging in this type of behavior in a children's establishment."
  • Man Charged With Shooting At A Birthday Party

    In 2015, Arieon Demico Ford brought a gun to a one-year-old girl's birthday party and shot at four people. One of them, the girl's grandfather, was struck three times but made a full recovery. When Ford was caught he was charged with four counts of first-degree assault and four counts of armed criminal action.

  • Parents Lose Daughter At Birthday Party

    In 2012, two parents suffered one of the biggest scares of their life when they saw their daughter reported as missing on the local news. The girl, Harmony, arrived at the pizzeria with four adults and 10 children, but stayed inside after everyone left. She was released into the custody of her mother almost immediately after the news report aired.
  • Suspicious Man Caught Taking Photos Of Children

    In Indiana, Chuck E. Cheese's employees were on it when they caught a suspicious looking fellow taking pictures of children. When the police arrived on the scene the suspect tried to run away but was "tackled down by at least a dozen cops."
  • Man Uses Children To Help Snatch Purses

    KOMO News in Seattle reported that Charles W. Elias, a man from Olympia, WA, used three children, aged 7, 8, and 10 to help him steal 15- 20 purses at a selection of area Chuck E. Cheese's. Elias was later arrested in connection with the theft but police haven't released how he knew the children.
  • Chuck E. Cheese's Leads US In Mouse-Based Pizzeria Child Labor Law Violations

    According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the San Francisco franchises of Chuck E. Cheese's have been fined at least $28,000 for allowing 16 young workers to operate on-site trash compactors and allowing two minors to run a dough-mixing machine illegally.
  • 4-Year-Old Finds White Powder In Pizzeria

    At a Chuck E. Cheese's in Belleville, IL, a child found a baggy containing a "white substance" on the carousel at the pizzeria. The mother of the child said management refused to call the police when they were presented with the powder and that the manager asked her to throw the baggy away. Problem solving at its finest!
  • Mr. Cheese Gropes A Mom

    In 2009 the children's pizzeria came under fire when one of the employees who was dressed as the restaurant's mascot, the titular Mr. Cheese, groped a mother who was the restaurant with her child.

    "He looked at her, reached out, grabbed her breast and moved along,” said Mark Potashnick, the mother's attorney. “Her jaw dropped in shock and disgust.”

  • Chuck E. Cheese Flips Off Camera While Hanging With 4-Year-Old Boy

    In 2011, an employee at a New Mexico franchise of the children's restaurant who dressed as Chuck E. Cheese, posed for a photo with a 4-year-old boy and flipped off the camera. Obviously the kid's family was less than thrilled. His mother said, "I was mad. I still am. That's his 4th birthday picture, and it's ruined. That was no way to treat a child."

  • Former Employee Explains How The Ball Pit Is Cleaned

    During a Reddit AMA, a former Chuck E. Cheese employee explained how his manager cleaned the ball pit. "Don't ever let your kids (if you have them) play in ball pits. They're rarely cleaned. When we did clean them, we put them in my boss' pickup truck in netted bags. Then we just went through a carwash."
  • Baby Mama Drama Turns Into A Giant Brawl

    A Chuck E. Cheese's in suburban Pittsburgh turned into Thunderdome when a fight involving as many as 50 people broke out. It appeared to have started outside the restaurant when the father of a young boy got into an argument with his girlfriend. The girlfriend then went back inside and started arguing with the boy's mother.

    Someone apparently threw a punch, and a massive brawl started. Police from all over the area came in to break up the fight, and one of the women was arrested.