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 man from Kentucky, nicknamed “Cowboy Cody” by locals, was arrested earlier this month after he reportedly unleashed a live raccoon inside a bar. This act was allegedly in retaliation for being asked to leave the premises due to his disruptive behavior.
Jonathan Mason was apprehended and faces charges of assault, criminal trespassing, and resisting arrest, as indicated by court documents. Additionally, he is charged with failing to maintain the necessary insurance for his pickup truck. This vehicle, left in neutral after his arrest, ended up rolling into a police car.
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Law&Crime, Murray Police Department officers were called to The Big Apple Grill and Bar, located in the 1000 block of Arcadia Circle, approximately 200 miles southwest of Louisville. Police learned that a man, later identified as Mason, had deliberately set a raccoon free inside the establishment before escaping 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.
