Haven Or Headache? : Drive-In’s Popularity Sparks Concern

COVINA —  To teen-agers, a large shopping center parking lot near the In-N-Out Burgers on Grand Avenue is a hang-out haven. To police, it’s a heavy-duty headache.

Not that the affinity of teen-agers for fast-food restaurants is anything new. Drive-through restaurants have been attracting young people for decades, leading to litter, noise and an occasional fight.

But rarely, authorities say, are such fast-food restaurant problems on the scale experienced at In-N-Out Burgers at 1371 Grand Ave., where on warm summer nights the boisterous crowd can easily swell to more than 500. Even when the mercury dips into the low 40s, as it did one recent Friday night, it’s not unusual to find 100 or more youths gathered in the parking lot.

The In-N-Out and the adjacent 250,000-square-foot parking lot attract youths from nearby cities such as Glendora and Azusa and from as far away as Pomona and the San Fernando Valley.

The crowd includes honor students and gang members. Some teen-agers are introduced to drugs and alcohol there, and through a team of evangelists who show up every weekend, others discover Jesus Christ.

Sometimes Violent

“It’s like Arnold’s from ‘Happy Days,’ ” said Jeff Flores of West Covina who frequents the In-N-Out and compared it to the popular teen hangout on the television show.

In-N-Outs and other fast-food restaurants elsewhere in the San Gabriel Valley are also popular with young people, but few cause police officers as many problems. For example, Lt. Ken Jeske of the El Monte Police Department said fast-food restaurants in that city attract young weekend cruisers too. But the gatherings number no more than 60 people, most of whom belong to various car clubs and cause police few problems.

The In-N-Out, however, has developed a rougher and at times violent atmosphere in the past year or so. Police say they have spotted skinheads, who espouse white supremacist views, and increasing numbers of gang members, including Bloods and Crips, two Los Angeles-based gangs whose members identify themselves by wearing red or blue.

“You don’t see as many faces that you recognize,” said Ted Housden, a manager at In-N-Out.

Housden used to break up an occasional fight between teen-agers, many of whom he knew by name, who were “wanna-bes” and not real gang members, he said. Nowadays, Housden doesn’t dare jump into the middle of a fight, preferring to leave crowd control to two private security guards provided by In-N-Out’s corporate headquarters.

“We’ve been assaulted,” said Walt Gamberale, a security guard. “We’ve had all kinds of threats made at us.”

On weekends, the In-N-Out locks its restrooms at 10 p.m., although the restaurant is open until 1:30 a.m.

“If we don’t close (them) at 10, by 10:30 there is damage,” said Housden. Even so, five sinks have been replaced in the last six months, he said.

An Alpha-Beta grocery store, the only other business in the nearby shopping center that stays open as late as the restaurant, also locks its restrooms. In addition, it blocks access to its storerooms with pallets.

“You learn to live with it,” said Mark Nelson, a night manager at Alpha Beta. “When it gets really bad, we call the Covina Police Department.”

In 1988, Covina police responded to 226 calls at In-N-Out, on a variety of complaints from public drunkenness to assault, to a stabbing about three months ago that left one victim with a punctured kidney.

Extra Police Patrols

“There have been arrests there for cocaine and marijuana, for both sales and use,” said officer Vic Lupu.

To combat the problems at the restaurant, Police Chief John Lentz recently sought $10,000 to cover anticipated overtime for extra patrols. The City Council, reluctant to spend that much for police coverage of one business, called for a closer look at the problem.

“When we respond that often to a particular site, that means we’re leaving other parts of the city uncovered,” said Mayor Bob Low. “It’s not fair to the rest of the community.”

Bob Williams, vice president of operations for In-N-Out, said the company is willing to do almost anything to cooperate with city and police officials. The company offered to pay for extra police patrols, but the city declined after the city attorney said state law prohibits cities from charging for police service.

The company will do almost anything short of closing early on weekends, said Williams. The restaurant sells about 900 hamburgers on a weeknight, and on weekends, sales nearly double.

On Feb. 1, Lentz and other city officials met with representatives of In-N-Out to try to establish a plan of action. The company agreed to set up temporary wooden barricades to block off a large section of the parking lot on Friday and Saturday nights.

The company has also bolstered its regular two-men private security force at In-N-Out with additional guards from its corporate office in Baldwin Park. The company, established in 1948, oversees 53 fast-food restaurants in Southern California.

The city, for its part, agreed to contact Myers Property Management, which manages the shopping center, and recommend that speed bumps and special lights be installed.

Kevin Argenio, a property manager for Myers, said the shopping center’s seven owners will have to determine whether they are willing to pay for the improvements.

“We’d be looking at absorbing costs to alleviate problems that we’re not creating,” Argenio said.

Temporary Barricades

If a one-month trial using the temporary barricades is unsuccessful, the city is exploring other options, including declaring the In-N-Out a public nuisance and restricting its business hours.

“We don’t feel we are a public nuisance,” said Williams. “It’s not just In-N-Out. It’s the parking lot.”

The parking lot also serves a variety of retail and service shops and anchor stores, including Builder’s Emporium, Clarks Drugs and the 24-hour Alpha Beta supermarket. In-N-Out, which faces Grand Avenue, is surrounded on three sides by the parking lot.

Beginning about 10 p.m. one recent Friday, a steady stream of cars and small pickup trucks rolled into the parking lot. The drive-through lane was quickly filled. Some youths headed for the In-N-Out’s warm dining room where they order what many of the customers described as “great food.”

The Double-Double, a made-to-order, double cheeseburger that is In-N-Out’s hallmark is a favorite with the teen-agers. As the night wears on and security officers periodically clear the parking lot to keep the crowd at a manageable size, there is usually a run on french fries and drinks.

High School Students

Even though the night air was chilly enough to set teeth chattering, a growing number of teen-agers begin clustering around their cars, talking, shivering and checking out the action in the parking lot.

Students from at least 10 San Gabriel Valley high schools congregate at the In-N-Out, and there is rivalry between the schools, said Flores.

“We don’t start anything,” said Brian Stevenson, 17, of Glendora. But if anyone did pick a fight, he said he would “just start swinging.”

As he spoke, two or three shoving and shouting matches erupted. Stevenson and his friends looked on.

“The cops are here!” someone shouted. Stevenson and his friends piled into their cars and left.

The shoving matches turned into a brawl involving 25 youths. Three squad cars arrived and officers begin breaking up the fight.

Not Afraid of Fights

Suzie Crowe and Kristine Beckstrom, both 16, said they weren’t afraid of the periodic fights and they said their parents do not worry about their hanging out at the In-N-Out.

“I don’t tell them about the fights,” said Beckstrom. She said there is no problem “as long as I’m not the one who is in the fight.”

The In-N-Out is also popular stop for a group of evangelists from Faith Community Church in Covina.

“There’s a lot of people here,” said David Dicken, 25, of Covina. “They are young. We want to reach high school kids.” They approach the youngsters individually, when they can.

“If we go up to five people, they are rebellious,” said Dicken. “If you talk to one or two at a time, they are more receptive.”

Dicken said he used to hang out at the In-N-Out when he was a teen-ager. “I got into fights,” said Dicken. “I smoked pot and drank. I tried cocaine.” Then his mother led him to Christianity, he said.

Christian Rap Tapes

Dicken and Curtis Hansen talk to teen-agers at the In-N-Out and sometimes hand out Christian rap and heavy metal cassette tapes as an alternative to those with satanic themes.

Mark Valdez, who said he started using drugs at 13, was one who welcomed their message.

“I’m 19 and have no future,” Valdez told Dicken and Hansen over a soda at the In-N-Out. “You guys have a lot of guts for coming out here.”

At close to midnight, a caravan of cars roared into the parking lot. “We usually come here because after the parties where do you go?” said Richard Rodriguez, 21, a college sophomore. “Glendora breaks up at 9, Covina at 10, San Dimas at 10:30,” he said, referring to parties in those cities.

At 1:45 a.m., the crowd was nearly gone. Doug Schiess, an In-N-Out employee, walked through the lot with a large garbage bag, picking up beer bottles, cans, and paper bags.

By morning, a street sweeper will have scraped the lot clean, leaving little evidence of the boisterous night.