Parents forget kids at Chuck E. Cheese
NOT THE SHARPEST KNIVES IN THE DRAWER: Chuck E. Cheese used to be known only as an eatery where patrons would punch each other out – or worse – at the drop of an Italian breadstick. But the chain pizzeria is also developing a reputation for parents accidently leaving their kids behind, with two such incidences occurring the same week.
The parents of a three-year-old girl didn’t know their child was left behind at a Chuck E. Cheese they had eaten in earlier until a spokesperson from the Harford County, MD, sheriff’s office was interviewed on 11 p.m. news last week, CBS-DC reports:
The manager of the restaurant told the sheriff’s office that Harmony came up to one of the employees shortly after 8 p.m. saying she was thirsty. The little girl was with a group of 14 people, including her mom and dad who are separated, earlier in the day.
The manager called authorities after being unable to find the group she was with and deputies waited until 9:30 p.m. when they brought her back to the precinct and contacted Child Protective Services.
Harmony’s mother and father, who are separated, each thought the girl had left with other family members during the party. Child Protective Services does not plan to file charges against either parent.
A 32-year-old Houston woman woke up last Friday morning to discover that she had left her five-year-old daughter at Chuck E. Cheese the previous evening, where she had taken her and her nine siblings to celebrate the girl’s birthday, The Smoking Gun reports:
At the party’s conclusion, the woman somehow left the birthday girl behind at the restaurant. After the child was discovered by restaurant employees around 11 PM, she was unable to provide any details that allowed cops to figure out the identities of her parents (or how to contact them). As a result, the girl was placed in emergency custody.
It wasn’t until … nine hours after she departed Chuck E. Cheese that the mother called 911 to report that her daughter was missing. The girl’s MIA status was discovered as the woman was preparing her children for school.
The TX Department of Family and Protective Services, and the Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office are investigating to determine whether charges of child endangerment or abandonment are warranted, and the girl remains in the custody of child welfare officials.
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