A photo of a Chuck E. Cheese employeebeing escorted out of a Tallahassee, Florida, locationin handcuffs has gone viral on social media, and police say the incident involves a man facing credit card fraud charges. Tallahassee Police Department officers are seen in a photo that has spread across social media arresting the man donning a mouse costume. "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?"one Facebook user wrote, alongside a picture of the arrest. According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by USA TODAY, Jermel Jarreau Jones, 41, was arrested on July 23, after officers responded to the Chuck E. Cheese location regarding reports of a stolen credit card. The female caller alleged she had video proof of Jones committing the crime, and she was at the location to confront him. The woman told police, who met her in the parking lot of the Chuck E. Cheese, that the last time she used her credit card was on June 28, 2025, when she attended her child's birthday party, according to the affidavit. After the party, she noticed around $105 worth of fraudulent charges on her card from businesses where she had never shopped. When the woman obtained security footage from a local grocery store, she immediately identified the man using her card in the business as a Chuck E. Cheese employee, according to the document. Once the woman told police she wanted to press charges against Jones, officers entered the Chuck E. Cheese and located him after another employee said "he was the one in the mouse suit." When officers approached Jones, one of them grabbed his right arm and told him, "Chuck E, come with me Chuck E," the affidavit stated. During this interaction, Jones pulled away from the officer's grip and allegedly "continued resisting by bracing his arms toward his chest and would not release his braced arms." The arresting officer asked Jones, "Not to make a scene." At that point, he was placed in handcuffs and escorted out of the business to the officer's patrol car. While speaking with officers, Jones told them, "The only cards I use is my own cash app," the affidavit stated. He continued to deny using the woman's card, including when questioned about purchases at a meat market and a smoke shop, the arresting document continued. "I don't got no card on me. I don't use nobody's card but my own," Jones told officers, per the affidavit. If he did find a card, Jones told the officers he would have "turned it in to Chuck E Cheese and not kept it." Jones was charged with three felonies, including theft of credit card, criminal use of personal identification information and fraudulent use of a credit card more than two times within six months, according to Leon County court records. He was taken into custody and booked at Leon County Jail, but he has already been released on bond, theTallahassee Democrat, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported. Allison Chouinard, a representative for Chuck E. Cheese, said in a statement emailed to USA TODAY on July 24: "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." Leon County court records show that Jones does not yet have a defense attorney. Jonathan Limehouse covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at JLimehouse@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Chuck E. Cheese worker in mouse costume arrested on fraud charges
