The victim, Michelle Allen, visited a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant for her child's birthday on June 28. Afterward, she noticed unknown charges on her debit card, which had gone missing.
According to ABC News, the purchases included items at a smoke shop, a meat market, and a Whataburger.
Allen took it upon herself to start investigating. She obtained security footage from the meat market and recognized an employee she had seen earlier at Chuck E. Cheese. With that information, she called the local police, who met her outside the restaurant.
Officers interviewed the suspect, identified as 41-year-old Jermel Jones. Jones was not in costume when Officer Jarrett Cruz arrived to speak with him, and he appeared to be very nervous, according to the police.
Cruz stepped outside after a brief conversation with Allen and another officer. When they returned, Jones was in full costume. In a hilarious scene, the police handcuffed Chuck E. and escorted him out of the restaurant.
Jones went to Leon County Jail and was bailed out after his $6,500 bond was posted.
Jones faced several felony charges, including larceny, unauthorized possession of someone else's identification, and using the stolen debit card multiple times. I have no idea how much Jones charged, but since the card was used at a smoke shop, a meat market, and a Whataburger, I'm guessing it wasn’t earth-shattering, yet his bond was still $6,500.
Conversely, at least one of the members of the violent black group who attacked a white man following a verbal argument and a white woman who was sucker punched and knocked out cold was released two weeks earlier on $4,000 bond.
Montianez Merriweather, 34, was out on bail following a July 10 indictment on multiple charges. According to a Facebook post from Cincinnati FOP Queen City Lodge No. 69, the FOP’s post said Merriweather was indicted on July 10th for receiving stolen property, weapons under disability, improper transportation of a firearm, and carrying a concealed weapon.