A birthday to remember, indeed!
Kids watched a Chuck E. Cheese employee in Tallahassee, Florida, get arrested on credit card fraud allegations Thursday as he wore the pizza chain’s famous mouse costume.
According to a probable cause arrest affidavit obtained by The Independent, Michelle Allen, the victim, reported that her child support Visa debit card was stolen after attending a birthday party at the Chuck E. Cheese at 2810 Sharer Road on June 28.
She noticed several unauthorized charges totaling $105.57 at various stores from July 3 to July 22. Allen obtained video footage from Don’s Grocery & Meats, where her card was used, and recognized the man as a Chuck E. Cheese employee, later confirmed to be Jermel Jones, 41.
Police responded to the children’s establishment on Thursday and saw Jones at the front desk.
“Jones looked very nervous,” Officer Jarrett Cruz wrote in the arrest affidavit. “He gazed at me with wide eyes and squared shoulders in a tensed demeanor. I asked him if I could enter to use the bathroom, and he replied with ‘What's going on?’”
When Cruz returned to the front of the restaurant, he did not see Jones, but another employee confirmed that he had put on the mouse costume.
“As I approached Jones, I grabbed his right arm while giving the verbal instruction, 'Chuck E, come with me, Chuck E,’” Cruz wrote about detaining Jones and walking him out of the restaurant.
Video captured by other patrons shows police removing Chuck E.’s head and revealing Jones in the costume. He was charged with felony credit card theft, criminal use of personal identification, and fraudulent use of a credit card over two times and over $100
Jones was taken to the Leon County Detention Facility and released Thursday morning on $1,000 bond.
A spokesperson for Chuck E. Cheese told The Independent on Thursday, “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.”
