City closes game room

Calling it a public nuisance, the Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections shut down the University Pinball game room at 40th and Spruce streets Friday afternoon. Penn officials said they had worked closely with the District Attorney's office over the past several weeks to close the arcade, which they claim brings criminal activity to the area. A bright orange sign in the establishment's window reads "Cease Operations" in large capital letters. According to the sign, L & I revoked the game room's business privilege license -- which any city business must possess in order to operate -- "for causing or permitting a public or private nuisance." A yellow sheet of paper, with the words "Sorry Closed" written in green marker, is taped to the inside of the door. The establishment has been shut since 1:45 p.m. Friday and will remain closed until city officials work out an agreement with its management, according to Director of Police Operations Maureen Rush. "It will all shake out some time this week," Rush said. She explained that the game room -- which is open 24 hours -- has been a center of "really crass behavior," including fights, people urinating in the street and juvenile curfew violations. She added that University Police "have received information that there is drug dealing going on" at the game room, even though University Police have not actually handled any narcotics violations at the business. The district attorney's office normally handles this type of situation, Rush said. "They will routinely look at establishments that have created an environment in which people feel unsafe," she said, noting that the University is "very concerned about the safety" of area residents -- many of whom are students. "The game room has been a serious concern not just to the University but to the wider community," Vice President for Government, Community and Public Affairs Carol Scheman said. When L & I officials, along with University and Philadelphia Police, shut down University Pinball Friday, all of the patrons quickly cleared out except for a young boy who was "8 or 9 years old," and who simply told police that "someone dropped me off," according to Rush. Eventually, the boy gave police the names of several people he knew, and police tracked down a woman who lived north of University City and was able to take care of the child. L & I spokesperson Tom McNally was unavailable for comment yesterday. Billy Schoepe, who co-owns the game room, Billybob's restaurant and numerous nearby properties with his brother Bob, has not returned telephone calls in recent weeks. West Philadelphia resident Brian Alemu, 19, said he was disappointed at the business's closing, adding that he thought police had unfairly singled out the game room in recent arrests of juveniles who violated the city's curfew ordinance. "I thought that was kind of a cool place," said Alemu. The game room has frequently been the site of problems throughout the past year. In an incident February 4, two men began harassing a male student inside the establishment, then assaulted him, giving him a concussion. When police attempted to arrest the two suspects, one of them allegedly kicked University Police Officer Len Harrison in the face, also giving him a concussion. In a separate incident, police apprehended a suspect March 27 at the game room in connection with that night's armed robbery of a University professor. The suspect was carrying 16 packets of crack cocaine. And Philadelphia Police arrested a man April 23, 1994 for shooting another man after a fight in the game room. The shooting victim had been standing in front of Allegro Pizza across the street from Billybob's.

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