Brawl erupts at Long Island Chuck E. Cheese birthday party

COMMACK, N.Y.

Melanie L'Hommedieu is still shaking after the knock-down, drag-out melee at the restaurant, where several families were holding birthday parties.

Melanie claims it began when she tried to help a little boy who seemed lost.

"So I just, you know, gently said, 'I'm not your mommy' and I looked to see who his mommy was, and I was approached with, 'You get your hands off my son.' So I was in shock," she said.

Tensions simmered, then boiled over.

Melanie's friend Lisa Lord says she was attacked.

She says video shot by another patron shows one of the women stealing her purse.

Lisa says her 9-year old daughter was distraught.

"She was pulling me away, it was so sad, yelling 'Mommy, Mommy stop, and I was just trying to get my purse on the way out the door," said Lord.

The purse was later returned, but Lisa says her money and iPhone were missing.

Through it all, both women insist the restaurant's staff was overwhelmed and unable to control the situation, long before police arrived.

"Chuck E. Cheeses's did absolutely nothing about this, that was my main concern," said Lord.

We're told the fight erupted around the time they started singing Happy Birthday, all caught on cell phone.

A little girl can be seen trying desperately to do the right things and hold back the adult.

In one scene it's clear the mothers are fuming, one cradling a baby with one arm while fighting with her free hand.

The manager was not allowed to comment on the brawl.

The Suffolk County Police have the video and a partial plate number.

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