Man in ‘Cookie Monster’ suit seen on Santa Cruz Wharf, police say not to engage
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION-TV)- Santa Cruz Police are telling people not to engage with a man seen around Santa Cruz dressed as an iconic Sesame Street character.
A spokesperson with the police department said that they have received calls from residents that a man dressed up as the 'Cookie Monster' is making people uncomfortable and is creepy.
Santa Cruz Police confirm the man's name is Adam Sandler, no not the actor, and he has been known to harass people from coast to coast dressed up as Sesame Street characters.
Santa Cruz Police said he has been known to "badger people. The man has yet to be charged with a crime in Santa Cruz.
Previous incidents of a man doing the same thing back in 2016 were reported by the LA Times. KION asked Santa Cruz Police and they confirmed a man named Adam Sandler is the same man wanted for harassing people in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York.
We spoke to a woman who says she encountered the man Saturday while on the Wharf with her sister.
"There's a random Cookie Monster, which is no surprise to me since I live in Santa Cruz," said Sarah Jones. "He seemed to be enticing people to want to take a photo with him. As soon as people would get near him he would flip up his Cookie Monster head and start spouting about how his child died in a Honda and how everyone should return their Hondas."
Jones said he was freaking people out because he was yelling at the top of his lungs. He would then wander to other people and do the same.
"Based on how dirty his costume was I knew it wasn't going in the right direction," said Jones. "When small children would get near him and he would start shouting about his dead child, it was just kind of off-putting, a little scary."
She added people would ignore the man and walk away. Overall, the man was not threatening as far as Jones saw. He did go up to people and pretend to be friendly before taking off his helmet and spouting at people.
