Clint Durrett
Local News
Watch: Bodycam captures moment Chuck E. Cheese mascot arrested at Florida restaurant
Tallahassee police released bodycam footage showing a man in a Chuck E. Cheese costume being arrested mid-shift on credit card fraud charges.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Newly released police body camera footage captures the surreal moment officers arrested a man wearing a full Chuck E. Cheese mascot costume — complete with oversized gloves and red cartoon shoes — inside a busy Florida restaurant.
The video, recorded July 23 and released by the Tallahassee Police Department, shows officers walking up to the mascot as he posed for photos with customers. Children can be heard in the background as police confront the costumed suspect, later identified as 41-year-old Jermel Jones, and place him in handcuffs.
“Don’t resist,” an officer says. “Let your hands go.”
The footage shows police removing the character’s giant mouse head and setting it on top of a patrol car before leading Jones away. He was still wearing the Chuck E. gloves when he was cuffed.
Police say Jones, an employee at the Sharer Road Chuck E. Cheese location, was wanted on multiple felony charges, including credit card theft and fraudulent use of personal identification. Investigators say a customer traced unauthorized charges to Jones after attending a birthday party in June and provided video evidence and receipts to police.
Officers recovered the stolen card and a matching receipt from Jones’ pocket during the arrest.
The viral video sparked questions online, with some users criticizing the optics of the arrest happening in front of children. Others noted the arrest was handled professionally, despite the unusual visual of an iconic children's character being led away in handcuffs.
The arrest and charges stem from an affidavit filed by the Tallahassee Police Department. Jones remains in custody and is facing prosecution.
About Me
1 POSTS
0 COMMENTS
Latest News
JBLM soldier sentenced for sexually assaulting college student in barracks
A military judge sentenced Pvt. Deron Gordon to over six years in prison for sexually assaulting a college student.
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. — A Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier who sexually assaulted a college student in the barracks in 2024 was sentenced to more than six years in prison Friday.
A military judge sentenced Pvt. Deron Gordon, 20, to six years and three months in prison after he pleaded guilty to one specification each of sexual assault, abusive sexual contact and as a principal to indecent recording.
Gordon was previously charged with additional crimes, but those were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
Gordon is one of four soldiers who were charged in in connection to the sexual assault of a college student, who is now a commissioned Army officer, in October 2024.
When Gordon pleaded guilty, he said that he and another soldier followed the college student into a bedroom after she had been drinking with them. He said she was unstable walking into the room and when they went inside she was on the bed and not responsive.
Gordon said he and the other soldier each proceeded to have sex with her and they filmed each other sexually assaulting her on Snapchat.
As part of his sentencing, Gordon will be reduced in rank to E-1 and dishonorably discharged from the Army.
Gordon will serve the remainder of his sentencing at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Once he is released, Gordon must register as a sex offender.
The three other soldiers who were charged in the incident are at different points in the legal process, and their cases are being treated separately.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. Additional resources are available on the Washington State Department of Health's website.
KING 5’s Conner Board contributed to this report.
Entertainment
Charlie Sheen Says He Turned to Alcohol to Help His Stutter
Charlie Sheen
Drinking Helped Me Find My Voice!!!
Entertainment
Josh Allen Calls Out Bills Fans Who Left Before Comeback Win, ‘Have Some Faith’
Josh Allen
Hey, Bills Mafia
Have Some Faith Next Time!!!
Local News
Teen sentenced in 2023 deadly Metro bus shooting near White Center
In the plea agreement, the teen said he recognized the man from pulling a gun on him on the bus several days prior and was nervous and scared.
WHITE CENTER, Wash. — A teenager was sentenced Friday to over 23 years in prison for shooting and killing a man aboard a King County Metro bus near White Center in 2023.
King County Judge Brian McDonald sentenced Miguel Rivera Dominguez, 19, to 23 years and 4 months in prison, with credit for time served. Prison time will be followed by three years of community custody.
The sentencing comes after Rivera Dominguez pleaded guilty July 3 of first-degree premeditated murder.
On Oct. 3, 2023, Rivera Dominguez fired five shots from “point blank range” at the head and neck of Marcel Da'jon Wagner, 21, who appeared to be asleep aboard the bus near Southwest Roxbury Street and 15th Avenue Southwest, according to charging documents.
In the plea agreement, Rivera Dominguez said he recognized Wagner from having “pulled a gun” on him on the bus a few days prior.
“i was nervous and scared when I saw him on 10/3/23 but he was not threatening me and I was not acting in self-defense,” Rivera Dominguez wrote.
There were 15 other passengers on the bus at the time, but none of them were injured in the shooting.
Rivera Dominguez, who was 17 at the time of the shooting, fled after the incident and remained at large for a month before he turned himself in.
The shooting prompted concerns about safety aboard King County Metro buses. After the shooting, Metro said it would add security to the H Line, expanding transit security officers who patrol buses and transit centers.
Local News
Let’s Go Washington launches initiative campaign on trans youth sports, parental rights
Let's Go Washington, the backers of the 2024 initiatives, is looking for signatures again.
OLYMPIA, Wash. — Let's Go Washington is back in the initiative game.
The organization, founded by Brian Heywood, sponsored several initiatives in 2024 changing state law.
Heywood announced Monday signatures are being gathered to submit two initiatives to the 2026 state Legislature or potentially voters. The initiatives relate to parental rights and trans youth athletes.
Heywood's organization achieved significant victories last year when voters supported initiatives restricting natural gas use and overturning state laws limiting police pursuits. The state Legislature also passed Let's Go Washington-backed measures banning income taxes and guaranteeing parental rights to access school records. The success came after Heywood invested more than $5 million of his own money into seven initiatives.
"Someone has to stand up and fight back. And what I think I've done is given the voice. I've given voice to 1.2 million people who signed at least one of our initiatives," Heywood said.
However, the organization faced a setback earlier this year when Gov. Bob Ferguson signed legislation overhauling the "parents bill of rights" initiative.
"It stripped all the parts about parental notification or parental access to information," Heywood said.
In response, Let's Go Washington is now gathering signatures for two new campaigns. The first seeks to overturn Ferguson's recent law, restoring their original parental rights initiative. The second would require physicians to assign genders to youth athletes during physicals, prohibiting those considered males from competing against females.
"Allowing biological males to compete in girls sports is a blatant, a flagrant violation of Title IX, I would argue, and also extremely unfair to girls who've worked really hard to get in a position to be top athletes," Heywood said.
Despite failing to pass initiatives targeting the state's climate law, long-term care savings program, and capital gains tax in 2024, Heywood remains optimistic about his organization's impact.
"Four out of seven, I'm pretty, pretty happy with what we did, and we're not done," he said.
If the organization can collect enough signatures by the end of the year, the issues would be submitted to the state Legislature. Lawmakers could either pass the initiatives or let voters decide in November 2026.


