Mule-Riding Kentucky Man Arrested (Again), This Time For Releasing A Raccoon Into A Crowded Bar

It sounds like this guy is a good time.

Last Friday, a Kentucky man known among locals as Cowboy Cody was taken into custody after releasing a raccoon into a local dive bar.

Jonathan Mason, 40, was arrested on a handful of charges, including assault, after the incident at The Big Apple Grill and Bar in Murray, Kentucky, according to the police report. If you are familiar with wild crimes in Kentucky, the offender’s name might look familiar to you because at the end of 2024, Mason was arrested twice in three days after leading cops on a low-speed mule chase.

You can’t make this stuff up…

In December last year, Mason had too much fun at the local watering hole. When the bar, the same bar involved in this most recent arrest, asked Mason to leave, he refused. When police arrived on the scene, he refused to stop on his trusty steed, and according to some witnesses, he was seen mistreating the animal. Two days later, assuming he was released on bail, Mason broke out his mule from the stable where it was being taken care of.

Mason tried to ride his mule to freedom, but it was short-lived. The police were notified, and they chased Mason down local roads while he tried to run from the cops atop his mule.

Mason is facing charges again after committing some more serious crimes last week. After being banned from The Big Apple Grill and Bar for the drunken mule incident, he returned on Friday night, already showing signs of intoxication upon his arrival.

Mary Hafner, a bartender at the establishment, told the New York Post that she approached Mason asking him to leave. Hafner said that Mason generally liked her before he was banned, and so she thought she could get him to go without causing a scene.

“I came out from around the bar and asked him nicely to leave. He said to me, ‘Oh, I see how it is, they sent a pretty face out here to distract me.’”

After he left, Hafner felt she had done a good job getting him to leave without a fight.

“At first, I was like, whew, I defused a big issue.”

However, that feeling was short-lived because Mason quickly returned, unleashing a wild raccoon into the bar.

“Apparently, he had trapped a raccoon earlier in the day on his farm, and he had been carrying it around with him. I’m a bartender, so you know I’ve seen some crazy stuff in my time. But nothing like this.”

Hafner felt bad for the animal, which looked terrified being let loose into the crowded bar. She told other bartenders and employees to let her handle catching the animal, wanting to keep all of the customers safe. However, they did not listen to her, and another employee tried to catch the mammal, getting bitten in the process. Hafner then took charge and lured the raccoon into a chair, gently wrapping the animal in a towel, covering its head, and carrying it outside to freedom.

“I’m no city slicker. I’m a Kentucky girl. I had no problem catching him.”

Cops pulled over Mason later that night. He refused to roll his window down for them to question him, but eventually they arrested him. Mason was taken to Calloway County Jail and is facing charges of third-degree criminal trespass, second-degree assault, resisting arrest, and failure to maintain insurance.

The worker who the raccoon bit was taken to receive care and got rabies shots.