Inset: Jonathan Mason (Murray Police Department). Background: The Big Apple Grill and Bar where Mason allegedly loosed a raccoon (Google Maps).
A 40-year-old Kentucky man known to locals as “Cowboy Cody” was arrested earlier this month after he allegedly let a live raccoon loose inside of a bar to get back at the owner and staff after he was kicked out due to unruly behavior.
Jonathan Mason was taken into custody and charged with one count each of assault, criminal trespassing, and resisting arrest, court documents show. Mason is also facing one count of failure to maintain required insurance for his pickup truck, which rolled into a police car because Mason left the vehicle in neutral following his arrest.
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Law&Crime, officers with the Murray Police Department responded to an incident at The Big Apple Grill and Bar in the 1000 block of Arcadia Circle, which is about 200 miles southwest of Louisville. Police were informed that an individual — later identified as Mason — had intentionally “released a raccoon” into the restaurant and fled the scene in a red pickup truck.
Officers quickly spotted the vehicle turning onto Highway 94 East. An officer activated the emergency lights on the squad car and got behind Mason to get him to pull over. However, Mason continued driving and appeared to motion for the officers to drive around him before eventually pulling into a parking lot.
Noting that Mason “had a history of involving firearms when dealing with law enforcement officers,” police said they approached his vehicle with their firearms drawn.
“Once we approached the window Mason refused to roll them down, at that time more officers arrived on scene,” the affidavit states. “[An officer] used a window breaker to open the Driver side window and open the door.”
Police removed Mason from the car and placed him under arrest, but his car was “left in neutral and rolled backwards,” striking one of the police vehicles at the scene. While filling out an accident report, it was discovered that Mason’s vehicle was not insured.
Police then went to the restaurant to obtain statements from witnesses and learned that Mason had previously been banned from The Big Apple.
In body camera footage obtained by Law&Crime, several patrons at the establishment recount what happened to police. Witnesses said they opened the door for Mason, not realizing he had the animal gripped in his arms, and watched him “throw it in” the restaurant.
“He had it tucked behind him and he just asked if we could get the door for him and we said ‘Yeah,’ and then he just slings this raccoon in out of nowhere,” a male witness tells police.
The raccoon bit one of the employees who was trying to catch the animal and release it outside. He was required to get a rabies shot.
While reviewing surveillance footage of the incident, the owner of the establishment told police it seemed like Mason “had a death wish” when it came to dealing with police, then added, “But meth’s a helluva drug.”
Another patron told police that the animal was Mason’s “pet raccoon.”
Mary Hafner, a bartender at the restaurant, told the New York Post that Mason had trapped the animal earlier in the day and had been seen “carrying it around with him.”
According to a report from Danville Fox affiliate WDKY, Mason in December led police on a drunken chase while riding a malnourished mule. Police said Mason went to a bar riding the mule and began “whipping” patrons with “a bullwhip” before fleeing on the animal. He was charged with third-degree criminal trespass following the incident.
