The scene was a little unexpected: Someone being led away from a restaurant in handcuffs.
The scene was also very, very startling: That someone was Chuck E. Cheese.
Yes, as photographs from astonished onlookers show, a man dressed as the famed mouse mascot was taken by the police last week from a branch of the children’s restaurant chain in Tallahassee, Fla. He is facing charges of credit card fraud.
Even beyond the handcuffed Mr. Cheese, the arrest included several elements not usually seen during police actions: A suspect quickly donning a mouse costume after an initial conversation with the police; an officer addressing that suspect as “Chuck E”; and astonished children wondering why the restaurant’s mascot was seemingly done for the day even as they continued to eat pizza and play arcade games.
“How do you explain this to a 4 and a 6 year old?” asked Courtney Gegenheimer, a math professor from Davenport, Fla., who was at the restaurant with her kids. “I said, ‘Maybe they got the wrong Chuck E.’”
The strange tale started when a woman noticed her card was gone and began to see fraudulent charges, including small purchases at a smoke shop, a grocery store and a Whataburger, according to an arrest report from the Tallahassee Police Department.
She visited one of the stores and viewed security camera footage from the time her card was used. She thought she recognized the customer using the card, the report said — it was an employee at a nearby Chuck E. Cheese, where she was a regular.
The police arrived at the Chuck E. Cheese location on Wednesday, spotted the employee at the doorway of the restaurant and had a brief conversation with him. After verifying that he matched the woman’s description, officers re-entered the restaurant, only to learn that the employee had donned the mouse suit. Now, they had to arrest Chuck E. Cheese.
“We were eating, and they did the announcement that Chuck E. was going to come out,” Ms. Gegenheimer said in an interview. “My 6-year-old wanted a picture, so we followed him. At the same time, a cop out of nowhere grabs his arm and says: ‘Chuck E.’s busy right now.’ I could hear them saying, ‘Don’t resist, don’t make a scene.’”
As a police officer said in his report: “I grabbed his right arm while giving the verbal instruction, ‘Chuck E., come with me, Chuck E.’” The mascot was cuffed and taken to a police car, still wearing his costume. Only at the car was his costume head removed, revealing the human being beneath for all to see.
“They set the head on the SUV,” Ms. Gegenheimer said. “All the kids are watching this. My kids said, ‘That’s not Chuck E?’”
The alarming sight of the famed mascot mouse and animatronic band leader being led away in handcuffs created a social media moment and a range of reactions: mirth over the incongruous images, concern for the children who witnessed the arrest and nostalgia over long-ago visits to the restaurant.
The suspect, Jermell Jones, 41, could not be reached for comment, but according to the police report, he denied that he had used anyone else’s card.
The police said that they had found the woman’s card upon searching Mr. Jones. Mr. Jones told the police, according to the report, that he had found the card and had never used it.
He was charged with three counts of credit card fraud.
In the aftermath of the incident, parents had some explaining to do.
Ms. Gegenheimer said: “My kids all week were like, ‘Why did Chuck E. get arrested?’”
Susan Beachy contributed research.
Victor Mather, who has been a reporter and editor at The Times for 25 years, covers sports and breaking news.
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