La Puente : Video Arcade Rejected

A bid to establish a large video game arcade at a shopping center in a crime-infested area was rejected by the City Council on Tuesday.

The council voted 5 to 0 to deny an application by the Rettan Corp. to open the arcade, which would have had about 90 video games, at Azusa Way Center in the 500 block of South Azusa Way.

The council concurred with a Planning Commission finding that the proposed arcade would attract more crime to a neighborhood blighted by illicit drug and gang activity.

A report prepared by the Sheriff’s Department said that more than 130 assaults and robberies were reported in the last year in a four-square-block area that includes the shopping center.