Watching Chuck E. Cheese get arrested was probably not what parents and kids at a Tallahassee, Fla., location expected earlier this month, but that’s what their trip to the children’s arcade came with.
Photos shared to social media starting circulating after the incident, and the local police confirmed that they were real, and that it had escorted the costumed employee out in handcuffs, according to the Tallahassee Democrat. Citing Tallahassee Police Department Spokesperson Alicia Hill, the outlet reported that that authorities were called to the Chuck E. Cheese’s establishment this month for a report of a stolen credit card.
“The victim met officers outside and said that they had a party at the pizza joint in June,” said the Democrat. “Afterward she noticed about $100 of fraudulent charges on her card from places she didn’t shop at or hadn’t been to.”
According to the paper, she was able to trace the activity to a Chuck E. Cheese’s employee at the 2810 Sharer Road location. He has been identified as Jermell Jones and officers did find the credit card in his possession. When police arrived at the establishment he was checking stamps at the door, but soon he was in full costume as Chuck E. Cheese, the mouse mascot of the children’s arcades.
Police initially identified the suspect as an employee who was checking stamps at the front door. But when they returned to make an arrest, they were advised by another employee that the suspect was now dressed as Chuck E. Cheese.
“While some questioned why police couldn't wait till the man was out of his costume, another photo later shows the arrested man unmasked with the Chuck E. Cheese mascot head on top of the squad car,” the Democrat reported. Jones was ultimately charged with three felonies: theft of credit card, criminal use of personal identification information and fraudulent use of a credit over two times within six months. He was taken into custody and booked at Leon County Jail and was released on bond as of this Friday.
Chuck Hobbs, writer of the Hobbservations Substack, was one of those who shared a photo of the incident on social media.
“Ok, Tallahassee Police Department, y’all couldn’t let this man change out of his Chuck E. Cheese costume before arresting him in front of those kids?” he said on Facebook.
However, he added this in a follow-up comment: “So, a VERY trusted source of mine at TPD just let me know that they tried to handle it with discretion in a secluded manner, but ol’ Chuck got buck and started resisting so they had to put on the cuffs.”
Hill told the Democrat that police did walk over to Jones with the intention to have him walk outside so they could handcuff him away from public view. Per police reports, one officer even referred to Jones as “Chuck E.” while escorting him out of the arcade.
“When they approached him, he immediately tenses up and resists, and so at this point they make the decision to put him in handcuffs, keeping in mind the safety of not only the customers, but the suspect, as well as the officers themselves,” Hill explained.
She also said that the Tallahassee Police Department doesn’t have a “specific policy on when arrests are appropriate in public,” according to the Democrat. Instead, it relies on officer discretion and safety.
“It is unfortunate that the person who is subject of this investigation and who we had probable cause on happened to be in a suit and in costume,” Hill added.
The Democrat reached out to the restaurant and an employee said he couldn’t comment on the case but also called the incident “unfortunate.” A member of the Chuck E. Cheese parent company, CEC Entertainment, did respond to an email from the Tallahassee Democrat asking for comment.
“We are aware of an incident involving a part-time employee arrested at our Tallahassee location on Wednesday, July 23. We have taken the appropriate action concerning the subject employee,” said the email.
Chuck E. Cheese’s arcades have been around for decades and they recently phased out the use of animatronic characters. This month, Audacy reported that the company is opening new gaming cafes for adults that will bring back the animatronics.