FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. – A man with a long criminal history is accused of doing something so inappropriate at McDonald’s that an employee shot video of him and called the cops.
The officer’s affidavit said it was “a report of a person masturbating in public” on Nov. 24 in Florida.
“The witness,” an employee, “advised that a male was sitting at a table inside of McDonald’s and was clearly masturbating under the table, while looking at a woman and her child. The witness recorded the individual on his cell phone,” and gave “a copy of that recording” to the cop.
“The recording clearly shows an individual masturbating while seated at a table in McDonald’s,” the officer determined. “The individual’s penis was not exposed.”
The suspect, Mark Dion Ray, had already left the restaurant, but the cop happened to run into him the next day at a convenience store.
“Mark Ray was wearing the same clothes that he was observed wearing on the cell phone video provided by the witness. Your affiant has prior personal knowledge of Mark Ray.
“Mark Ray admitted to being at McDonald’s, but claimed he was scratching his leg,” the affidavit concluded.
Ray was not arrested that day.
Arrest Warrant Executed, Dec. 4, 2024 by Lenny Cohen on Scribd
Authorities got an arrest warrant on Dec. 4 and arrested Ray 15 days later for breach of peace.
His bond was set at $5,002, and he has not been released.
Ray apparently said something disturbing at a different restaurant when he “walked up to a waitress and appeared to tell her something that appeared offensive, due to her facial expression, and then left.”
That’s from a police report dated Sept. 19, 2023, but Ray wasn’t charged for that.
“Ray was trespassed from the shopping center” that housed the restaurant, the report noted, and an officer caught him “in the middle of the parking lot in front of” a neighboring store.
Ray was arrested for trespassing after warning, but he “made suicidal comments, so he was placed under a Baker Act [and] transported to Baptist Medical Center of Nassau and not arrested on this case.”
But, “This probable cause affidavit was generated and left with other shifts so that he could be arrested if contacted, after he is released from the Baker Act facility.”
That’s not exactly what happened.
The next day, an officer got called about a man “spray painting the gazebo” near a bar by the beach.
The couple “who witnessed the criminal mischief” said “they were outside on the deck … when they observed Mark Dion Ray (suspect) walk from around the corner … carrying a Baptist medical bag,” this other report said.
They “watched Ray walk to the center of the gazebo and take out a spray paint can. They watched as he sprayed green paint onto the floor of the gazebo. [The witnesses] stated Ray was spraying the gazebo for at least a full minute before walking down the boardwalk onto the beach. [They] were able to capture a photo of Ray spraying the gazebo.”
That’s where the officer caught Ray, “wearing the described clothing,” and placed him “in handcuffs immediately, due to an active probable cause affidavit on him for trespassing after warning” the previous day.
Then, “When asked about him spray painting the gazebo, Ray stated he did spray paint the gazebo and told me he wrote ‘cry baby’ on the floor to ‘mark his set.’”
The officer took him back to the hospital “for medical clearance, due to him stating he ingested unknown pills. While Ray was awaiting medical clearance,” the cop spoke to a city employee “who stated the approximate cost of damages to the gazebo was $1,600.
“Ray was cleared for incarceration and” taken to jail “with no further incidents.”
Plea of Guilty or No Contest to Criminal Charge, Jan. 22, 2024 by Lenny Cohen on Scribd
In January 2024, Ray took a plea deal in his trespassing case. He was sentenced to 60 days in jail with credit for time served, and ordered to pay $373 in fees and costs, in a civil judgment.
His arrest for criminal mischief over $1,000 happened the same day, but the case was a bit more complicated.
Order to Transport Defendant to Expert Evaluation Appointment, Nov. 1, 2023 by Lenny Cohen on Scribd
In November 2023, the judge ordered him to go for a “competency psychological evaluation.”
Order Adjudging Defendant Mentally Competent, Dec. 15, 2023 by Lenny Cohen on Scribd
Both sides agreed with the report received the next month that Ray was “mentally competent to stand trial,” and his public defender was “no longer concerned about his competency due to her conversations with him.”
Plea of Guilty with Negotiated Sentence, March 28, 2024 by Lenny Cohen on Scribd
Finally, in late March, Ray took a plea deal and his sentence included 13 months in state prison with credit for about half of that, two years of probation, an inpatient program, restitution of nearly $3,000 to the city, plus $660 for other costs.
Ray went to prison in mid-April and he was released on Oct. 2, less than two months before his visit to McDonald’s.
That was the fourth prison sentence Ray, 35, served. His probation was scheduled to last through Oct. 1, 2026.
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