TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A new angle has been released in the arrest of a Chuck E. Cheese employee who was wearing the mascot costume
Officers from the Tallahassee Police Department took the employee who was suspected of taking a customer’s credit card and using it earlier this year. Video of the employee’s arrest went viral at the time.
The customer told police that she frequented the restaurant and last had her card when she was at her child’s birthday party on June 28. Her card was used at a business she did not shop at, she told police when she gave them security camera footage of it being used. She told police she recognized the man as a Chuck E. Cheese employee.
She said there were $105 worth of charges she did not make on the card, USA Today reported.
The woman had gone to the restaurant to confront the man, and when she asked another employee if he was there, was told “He was the one in the mouse suit.”
Now, police have released the July 23 footage of the arrest of the man who was identified as Jermel Jones, Fox News reported.
The video includes profanities.
A mom can be heard in the camera asking for a photo with the mascot, with the police officer telling her, “Chuck E.’s a little bit busy, ma’am" as officers approached the character.
Officers then tell Jones, as he was still dressed in the full costume, “Chuck E., come with me. Chuck E! Chuck E! Stop resisting! You’re being detained, stop resisting! Do not cause a scene here, sir.”
Children can also be heard on the video saying “Oh no!,” as they watched the situation unfold, USA Today reported. One woman also told police that they may have “traumatized” the children, adding, “Would y’all put Mickey Mouse in handcuffs?”
Jones told police he did not use the card, telling them that he had found the card that day and it was on him, but he “never used it,” Fox News reported.
Jones faces three felony charges, including theft of a credit card, criminal use of personal identification information and fraudulent use of a credit card more than two times within six months, USA Today reported.
Chuck E. Cheese released a statement to the publication after Jones’ arrest, which read, “We are aware of an incident involving a part-time employee arrested at our Tallahassee location on Wednesday, July 23,” adding, “We have taken the appropriate action concerning the subject employee.”
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