http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010622/od/cookiemonster_dc.html

Friday June 22 9:43 AM ET

Cookie Monster Is Assaulted

MIDDLETOWN, Pa. (Reuters) - A Maryland man punched and kicked Cookie Monster at a crowded Sesame Street theme park outside Philadelphia, after the character declined to pose for a photo with his 3-year-old daughter, police say.

Lee McPhatter allegedly became irate when his daughter, Mina, approached Cookie Monster at Sesame Place to have a photo taken only to be moved aside by Jennie McNelis, 21, who was inside the Cookie Monster suit.

Police said McPhatter began shouting at the blue, furry Cookie Monster, then thrust his head into the character's mouth. When the cookie-loving monster pushed back, McPhatter allegedly pushed the character to the ground, and began punching and kicking.

McNelis was treated at a local hospital for injuries including bruised ribs.

``This is a first. We've had character costumes stolen and numerous shopliftings, but never anything like this,'' said Middletown Police Officer Dan Buckley.

McPhatter, 22, of Waldorf, Maryland, was arrested for the June 9 incident, arraigned before a district magistrate and released on $20,000 bail.

Located 20 miles northeast of Philadelphia, Sesame Place bills itself as the only U.S. theme park based on the popular children's television program. Officials at the park, which is operated by Anheuser-Busch Adventure Parks, were not immediately available to comment on the attack.

-- (in@the.news), June 23, 2001

Answers

Hope Mina never plays Little League.

-- Carlos (riffraff@cybertime.net), June 23, 2001.