Chuck E. Cheese employee arrested in iconic mouse mask for using stolen credit card, police say

TALLAHASSEE (AP) — Wearing the furry mask of the iconic Chuck E. Cheese mascot mouse, an employee of the popular children’s birthday destination was arrested for using a stolen credit card at one of the chain’s Florida restaurants, police said.

“Chuck E, come with me Chuck E,” a police officer in Tallahassee told the suspect, “stop resisting, you are being detained.”

The arrest occurred Wednesday, according to the probable cause report from police, while photos from bystanders showed an officer removing the man’s rodent mask — with its gray fur, exaggerated ears and perpetual smile — and placing it atop a Tallahassee Police Department vehicle.

The investigation began when a woman called police to report that someone was using her child support Visa debit card, which she hadn’t seen since a visit Chuck E. Cheese in late June, police records stated. Charges to the card were made at a smoke shop, grocery store and a Whataburger.

The woman tracked down the suspect by going to the grocery store and viewing surveillance footage from the time her card was used, police records state. She recognized the man from the Chuck E. Cheese.

When police officers arrived at the restaurant, one of them entered first to verify that the suspect was there. He was — and he wasn’t wearing the mask. The suspect “looked very nervous, he gazed at me with wide eyes and squared shoulders in a tensed demeaner,” a police officer later wrote in the probable cause report.

The officer and another officer soon returned to the Chuck E. Cheese, where the suspect had since donned the rodent mask, police records stated. The officers asked another employee if the suspect was in the mouse suit.

“She shook her head up and down indicating yes,” the officer wrote.