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‘Cookie Monster’ arrested in Times Square

Posted at 10:49 PM, Apr 08, 2013
and last updated 2013-04-08 22:52:33-04

(CNN) — C is for “Cookie,” or is it “Cash”?

A man dressed as the TV character Cookie Monster allegedly shoved a 2-year-old after the child’s parents refused the man’s demand for $2 for posing for a photo, New York police say.

The child was not physically injured during the incident, according to police.

Detective Kelly Ort told CNN that 33-year-old Osvaldo Quiroz-Lopez of Queens was arrested and charged with reckless endangerment and acting in a manor injurious to a minor after the incident Sunday in Times Square.

Quiroz-Lopez was dressed as the Cookie Monster character to make money by posing for photos with passersby, according to police, who added that there was no connection between the man and the TV series “Sesame Street,” which counts Cookie Monster among its characters.

Quiroz-Lopez was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on Monday and held with bail set at $1,000 cash, according to the Manhattan district attorney’s office. His next court date is scheduled for May 1.

Attempts to reach Lopez and his attorney, Beth Unger from the Legal Aid Society, were unsuccessful.