A multi-family fight broke out Saturday night at a Miami-area Chuck E. Cheese’s, according to the Miami Herald.
https://twitter.com/krvstel/status/782420716398444544
A bystander took the above 28-second video of the brawl and posted it to Twitter, where it’s since been retweeted over 2,000 times. The bystander told the Herald that the fight began when “one person was looking at them and instigating a problem then they went up to them and their families got involved.”
Several people were injured but no one was arrested, according to the bystander. She also said alcohol was likely a factor, despite the pizza chain’s two-drink limit.
In case you thought this was a one-time thing, or a phenomenon specific to Florida, The Washington Post notes there have been dozens of fights at Chuck E. Cheese’s in at least nine different states over the past few years. From the Post:
The Miami brawl was preceded by a massive fight at a Chuck E. Cheese’s just outside Pittsburgh in March that began with an argument between the parents of a 1-year-old and grew to include as many as 50 people,according to CBS affiliate KDKA.
A month earlier in Manchester, Conn., another fight broke out that spoiled five children’s birthday parties and resulted in a 1-year-old being knocked down, a 4-year-old being bruised and a senior citizen experiencing a panic attack, police told the New York Daily News.
In December, three people were arrested and charged after starting a fight that was captured on camera at a Louisiana Chuck E. Cheese’s, according to CBS affiliate KSLA.
But why have there been so many? In 2012, David Schwartz, a psychologist and professor at the University of Southern California, told ABC News that birthday parties are often “really emotional situations.”
“There’s frustration and provocation,” he said. “A parent will never be more ready to defend somebody than when they’re with their child.”
Combine that with alcohol and crowds, and you apparently have the perfect recipe for a big-ass fight.
