The prayers of the deranged have been answered: Crime is back in Times Square. On Sunday, a man dressed as Cookie Monster was arrested in the Midtown hellhole after allegedly groping a 16-year-old tourist.

According to an NYPD spokesperson who spoke with Gothamist, the teen was walking with a tour group when 48-year-old Ranulfo Perez, dressed in a Cookie Monster costume, "pulled the victim into a hug and forcibly touched her breasts.” Perez was arrested and charged with forcible touching in a manner injurious to a child less than 17 and second degree harassment.

The arrest is just the latest in what can only be described as a plague of costumed crime. Last year, according to Gothamist, 18 characters were arrested, including at least two Elmos , a pair of Iron Men , and several Spider-Men . In 2013, an Elmo allegedly shoved a toddler and a Spider-Man allegedly punched a snowball-wielding mom. And, of course, in 2012 there was the infamous Jew-hating Elmo of Central Park.


What’s to be done about these copyright-infringing thugs? Perhaps another public summit with the NYPD is in order. There's also a push from some city council members to require the costumed entertainers to pay a registration fee, though prominent members of the industry—principally The Joker—have criticized the proposed bill as “fascism” and a violation of the First Amendment.

[Image via flickr]