'Chuck E. Cheese' Handcuffed and Arrested in Florida, Charged with Using a Stolen Credit Card (nbcnews.com)
- Reference: 0178479262
- News link: https://idle.slashdot.org/story/25/07/27/0532227/chuck-e-cheese-handcuffed-and-arrested-in-florida-charged-with-using-a-stolen-credit-card
- Source link: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/chuck-e-cheese-handcuffed-arrested-florida-charges-using-stolen-credit-rcna221104
> Customers watched in disbelief as Florida police arrested a Chuck E. Cheese employee — in costume portraying the pizza-hawking rodent — and accused him of using a stolen credit card, officials said Thursday.... "I grabbed his right arm while giving the verbal instruction, 'Chuck E, come with me Chuck E,'" Tallahassee police officer Jarrett Cruz wrote in the report.
After a child's birthday party in June at Chuck E. Cheese, the child's mother had "spotted fraudulent charges at stores she doesn't frequent," according to the article — and she recognized a Chuck E. Cheese employee when reviewing a store's security footage. But when a police officer interviewed the employee — and then briefly left the restaurant — they returned to discover that their suspect "was gone but a Chuck E. Cheese mascot was now in the restaurant."
Police officer Cruz "told the mascot not to make a scene before the officer and his partner 'exerted minor physical effort' to handcuff him, police said... "
> The officers read the mouse his Miranda warnings before he insisted he never stole anyone's credit, police said.... Officers found the victim's Visa card in [the costume-wearing employee's] left pocket and a receipt from a smoke shop where one of the fraudulent purchases was made, police said.
He was booked on charges of "suspicion of larceny, possession of another person's ID without consent and fraudulent use of a credit card two or more times," according to the article. He was released after posting a $6,500 bond.
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader [2]destinyland for sharing the news.
[1] https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/chuck-e-cheese-handcuffed-arrested-florida-charges-using-stolen-credit-rcna221104
[2] https://www.slashdot.org/~destinyland
Preferred ShowBiz (Score:2)
Anyone old here remember before they rebranded it was ShowBiz and there was a whole music set of animated characters.
Re: Preferred ShowBiz (Score:2)
It wasn't a rebrand. ShowBiz was a different, competing establishment founded by Nolan Bushnell of Atari fame. IIRC, Chuck E. Cheese bought what was left of them after their business failed.
Re: (Score:2)
You have it backwards. Chuck E Cheese was founded by Nolan Bushnell in 1977.
Robert Brock, a major Holiday Inn franchise operator, signed a deal to open 280 Chuck E Cheese franchises in 1979, but got cold feet when he saw other companies like CEI were producing more advanced animatronics and voided the deal. He founded ShowBiz Pizza around the end of 1979.
Chuck E Cheese declared bankruptcy in 1984, and was acquired by ShowBiz' parent company Brock Hotels in 1985, but both chains continued to operate separat
He has a prescription! (Score:3)
Do you know how hard it is to find an approved treatment for glaucoma in rats?
Pizza-hawking rodent (Score:4, Funny)
"Tell us: Who were your accomplices?"
"Never! I'm no rat!"
Appropriate employment (Score:2)
Sounds like this criminal genius couldn't get a job anywhere else
About time they caught that rat (Score:4, Insightful)
I haven't been to a Chuck-E-Cheese since the 1980s, I'm joking with my subject. I've seen them, but terrible pizza, old video games, no reason to go in.
Re:About time they caught that rat (Score:5, Insightful)
Most of them are gone now anyway. Old video games, on the other hand, are a great reason to go.
Re: (Score:3)
Why does this stuff always happen in Florida?
Re: (Score:3)
Similar things happen in other places, but Florida has a [1]"Sunshine Law" [wikipedia.org] that means these kinds of police reports are visible to the general public.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Sunshine_Law
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah there was always something creepy about him...and the pizza.
Re: (Score:2)
> I haven't been to a Chuck-E-Cheese since the 1980s, I'm joking with my subject. I've seen them, but terrible pizza, old video games, no reason to go in.
It's not for you, it's for your kids. We've been to several birthday parties for the 4-7 age range there.
Re: (Score:2)
I don't remember them having old video games. Remember them getting rid of most of that stuff replacing it with ticket redemption crap. They did at least have the ball pit and jungle gym stuff. From what I understand all that's gone now. It's basically a kiddy casino with just really mean spirited ticket redemption games.
That was never going to work because the whole point of the place was you could go there as a parent and get a few hours of Peace as your kids played on the jungle gym after they blew t
Re: (Score:2)
The pizzas were made under less than sanitary conditions. The cheese came in this huge box and had to be split up into multiple bags to be refrigerated. Do you think teenage employees wipe down the tables in the kitchen before they start this task?