Game room spurs dueling lawsuits

University officials and the game room owners have sued each other over the crime near the property. University attorneys have accused the owners of a local video arcade and coin-operated laundry of bringing criminal activity to the area, as part of a response to the owners' lawsuit charging Penn and the city with illegally shutting down the businesses. Billy and Bob Schoepe, owners of the University Pinball and University Laundry establishments at 4006-4008 Spruce Street, sued the University and the city of Philadelphia in April after city regulators -- working closely with University officials -- shut the businesses down and accused them of being a public nuisance. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, alleges that the University and city violated the owners' due-process rights by not giving them notice or a hearing before closing the establishments. But the University's counterclaim charges that the establishments "create a carnival atmosphere that attracts persons who are involved in or appear likely to become involved in disorderly and/or criminal activity" such as public urination, marijuana smoking and auto theft. University officials, including Director of Police Operations Maureen Rush, made similar statements earlier this year about the game room and laundry. The original complaint, filed by the Schoepe family and its property-owning company We Inc., names the University, Rush, the Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections and L & I Director of Business Regulatory Enforcement Rudolph Paliaga as defendants. The University's counterclaim seeks to close the establishments during late-night curfew hours, in addition to unspecified damages, citing several incidents supporting its claim that the game room and laundry threaten public safety. In February, two men assaulted a University student inside the game room, giving him a concussion. One of the suspects allegedly kicked a University Police officer in the head, also giving him a concussion. Last March, University Police arrested a suspect in the game room in connection with an armed robbery that night. The suspect was carrying 16 packets of cocaine. And the University charges that the businesses violate Philadelphia code by being open or having lights on during late-night hours. In a separate development in the case, Judge Marvin Katz ordered University President Judith Rodin to give a deposition in the suit, over strenuous objections by University lawyers. When attorneys for the plaintiffs notified the opposition that they would take Rodin's deposition July 25, University attorneys filed a memorandum saying Rodin didn't know anything about the matter except what Executive Vice President John Fry told her. In addition, Rodin filed a sworn affidavit dated July 15 saying she was too busy to give a deposition, claiming "it will impose severe hardship upon me because it will disrupt and force me to cancel or postpone planned activities on behalf of the University." Instead, University attorneys argued, Fry is responsible for the situation and should give the deposition. Rodin's deposition date hasn't been set yet, according to Roger Cox of the Philadelphia law firm of Blank Rome Comisky & McCauley, who are representing the University and Rush. Cox declined to comment on specific charges in the suits, including the plaintiffs' claim that the University singled out the businesses "because their customers are primarily minorities from the surrounding West Philadelphia neighborhoods and not primarily University students." And in their answer to the original complaint, attorneys for the city of Philadelphia and Paliaga denied almost all of the Schoepes' allegations, admitting only that L & I inspected the businesses Dec. 11, 1996, and posted a "Cease Operations" notice April 18. The December inspection found University Pinball and University Laundry to be "in compliance" with regulations, but the business was closed in April anyway. Schoepe attorney Ron Shaffer did not return telephone calls for comment yesterday. Katz ordered the lawyers to complete discovery, in which attorneys exchange information relevant to the case, by Sept. 26. The Schoepe family owns the business as well as numerous other properties in the area of 40th and Spruce Street, some of which it rents to students.

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