KY man known as ‘Cowboy Cody’ arrested for releasing a raccoon into a restaurant
A Murray man was arrested June 6 after police said he ”intentionally released a raccoon into an open business.”
Police say the raccoon bit a person inside the business.
Murray Police Department officials wrote in a June 10 Facebook post the man was later identified as 40-year-old Jonathan Mason. They said Mason left the scene and refused to roll down his windows or exit the vehicle when officers conducted a traffic stop on him, so they removed him from the vehicle.
Mason had “already been warned” he was not allowed on the business’ property, police said in the post.
“Mr. Mason was arrested and charged with Assault 2nd Degree, Criminal Trespassing 3rd Degree, Resisting Arrest, and Failure of Owner to Maintain Required Insurance 1st Offense; he was lodged in the Calloway County Jail,” the police department’s Facebook post said.
The Murray Sentinel reported Wednesday the business where the raccoon was released was Big Apple Grill and Bar. Mason is known locally as “Cowboy Cody.”
It wasn’t immediately clear where the raccoon Mason released came from.
The insurance-related charge stemmed from an incident that occurred after officers used a window breaker to remove Mason from the vehicle, The Murray Sentinel reported. Officers did not realize the truck was in neutral, and it rolled into a police department vehicle and damaged it. When the Calloway County Sheriff’s office was contacted to file the accident report, it was discovered Mason’s vehicle was uninsured, the local outlet reported.
This isn’t the first time Mason has been arrested for an animal-related incident. The Murray Police Department said in a Dec. 9, 2024, Facebook post they arrested Mason Dec. 7 and charged him with second-degree disorderly conduct, alcohol intoxication in a public place, third-degree criminal trespassing, resisting arrest and second-degree cruelty to animals.
In the December incident, officers said they responded to a bar for reports of an “unruly individual” who had been asked to leave and refused. When officers arrived at the bar, Mason was outside and “manifestly under the influence of alcohol.”
Mason had ridden a mule to the bar and refused to stop when officers told him to do so. Officers said he resisted arrest.
“Upon further investigation, witnesses had observed Mason whip the mule at a different establishment an ‘unnecessary amount’ of times in addition to other ways of mistreating the animal,” the police department’s Dec. 9 Facebook post said.
The mule was stabled, and Mason was arrested and lodged in the Calloway County Jail.
Two days after his initial arrest outside the bar, officers were dispatched to where the mule had been stabled in regards to a man who “seemed to be intoxicated” riding a mule down the highway. The social media post said Mason refused to stop for the officer and fled down the road on the mule.
Officers arrested Mason shortly after he fled, and charged him with third-degree fleeing or evading police and second-degree cruelty to animals. He was again lodged in Calloway County Jail.
This story was originally published June 12, 2025 at 12:08 PM.
