'Cookie Monster' arrested, A man dressed as the Sesame Street character "Cookie Monster" has been arrested on charges of endangering the welfare of a child after he was accused of shoving a 2-year-old in New York's Times Square, police say.
Osvaldo Quiroz-Lopez, 33, of Queens was arrested Sunday afternoon and arraigned Monday afternoon.
Police say Quiroz-Lopez demanded $2 from a Connecticut family who posed for a photo with him dressed as the furry blue character. The family refused to pay and the child's parents told police Quiroz-Lopez shoved the toddler.
Osvaldo Quiroz-Lopez, 33, of Queens was arrested Sunday afternoon and arraigned Monday afternoon.
Police say Quiroz-Lopez demanded $2 from a Connecticut family who posed for a photo with him dressed as the furry blue character. The family refused to pay and the child's parents told police Quiroz-Lopez shoved the toddler.
"We didn't even go to him for a picture," said the boy's mother, Parmita Kurada, according to CBS New York. "He just called to him, carried him, and says, 'Come on, take pictures.'"
When the picture was taken, Kurada said the man inside the costume demanded money, the station reports. She says her husband headed to an ATM, but she said within minutes, the costumed character began yelling obscenities at her and the children.
"He just kept getting closer to me, and then he started getting very loud; very abusive. He started cursing me," Kurada said.
Quiroz-Lopez's attorney reportedly denied the allegations in court, claiming that the boy did not fall. The Cookie Monster impersonator has no prior arrests.
Cookie Monster isn't the first costumed character to cause a stir. In December 2012, a performer dressed as a Super Mario Brother was accused of groping a woman in Times Square.
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