SAN ANTONIO - You have probably heard of the popular restaurant chain, Chuck E. Cheese's. It is packed with video games and kids can run around, sing, dance and play. But, News 4 Trouble Shooter Delaine Mathieu is uncovering a dangerous lapse in security at almost every Chuck E. Cheese's in San Antonio.
Chuck E. Cheese's Kid Check program works like this: When a group goes into the restaurant, you get stamped with invisible ink. Everyone in your group gets a matching number. When you leave, the attendant shines a black light on the stamps to make sure they all match. If they don't, you're not allowed to leave.
That is how the system is supposed to work, but at most Chuck E. Cheese's here in San Antonio, our hidden camera investigation showed it didn't always work that way.
The idea behind Chuck E. Cheese's kid check program is everyone who comes together, leaves together.
But one San Antonio mom says one Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant let her child leave with someone else.
"The manager was actually the one checking numbers," says mom Becky Pena, who decided to test the Kid Check policy with her 2-year-old back in July.
She allowed another family member - who came in separately - to try to walk out of the restaurant with her daughter.
"He checked my father-in-law's hand, saw his number. Looked on one of my daughter's hands, didn't find the number. Looked on the other hand ... clearly saw that they had different numbers on the hands, but he let them walk out together," describes Becky.
So, was her experience just a fluke? Or could this be a bigger problem?
There are 5 Chuck E. Cheese restaurants in San Antonio: News 4 took cameras - some undercover, some in plain view - into each one and tested the program ourselves.
First, we stop by the restaurant Becky tested on SW Military Drive.
Our News 4 producer and her baby walk in. The baby gets a sticker with a number on his back, which is policy for infants and then mom gets stamped.
Minutes later, we have our producer switch children with a relative inside and tries to walk out with her. The attendant never even bothers to check for stamps.
Then, we send our producer's baby out with the relative. They are not checked, either.
Next, we stop by the Chuck E. Cheese on Bandera and Loop 1604.
Again, our producer's baby is about to leave with someone else. Remember, infants get stickers, but the video appears to show the attendant checking for stamps.
Never finding any proof this baby belongs this person, the employee still lets them leave.
It happens again at the restaurant at the Forum on I-35. Mom and baby walk in together, but the baby leaves with someone else.
At the Stone Oak location, the attendant cannot find stamps on anyone's arms. She clearly struggles with what to do, but eventually, lets them go anyway.
"My wife just said, 'I didn't get a stamp' and that's when she just let us through," our photographer says after walking out.
The only Chuck E. Cheese's in San Antonio that did follow the Kid Check program was the one at Loop 410 and Ingram. The employee at this location makes everyone stay put until she can verify who's who, then lets everyone go.
So, how could these employees not follow the restaurant's own policy?
We went back to each one to find out.
At the SW Military Drive location, a manager tells News 4, "I can't comment on anything."
"You'll have to talk to our home office," is the response we get from the Bandera Road location.
"At this moment, I'm not allowed to make any comments, but I'm more than happy to give you our home office number," says a manager at the Stone Oak location.
"Do you feel like the kid check program at this particular restaurant is a safe one?" we ask a manager at the Forum location. "Yes, ma'am," replies the manager.
But Pena is not convinced. She knows parents should never take their eyes off their kids, but if Chuck E. Cheese's is going to advertise an extra layer of protection, she says they need to enforce it.
"You kind of just expect that the person at the doors is going to be a second line of defense against a stranger walking off with your child," she says. "We'll keep an even closer eye on her now."
Chuck E. Cheese's issued a statement stating:
The main objective of the Kid Check system is to assist parents or adult guardians so that everyone that comes together, leaves together. Chuck E. Cheese’s “Kid Check” program is very simply a system that matches up children with the adults that bring them by means of a coded ink stamp that is viewable under ultraviolet light. This provides a measure of security for our guests but is not intended to take the place of adult supervision; we do not allow adults to leave children unattended at our facilities.
We apologize for the incidents you experienced involving our Kid Check stations and have addressed them with management of each location. Our Kid Check attendants in these locations will be re-trained. Please be assured that the safety of our guests and their children is our top priority.
