A street performer dressed as Spider-Man in New York City's Times Square was arrested after punching a police officer who scolded him for demanding more money from a couple he had posed with for a picture, police said on Sunday, according to The Associated Press.
The Saturday afternoon incident began when Junior Bishop, 25, was overheard by a police officer refusing a $1 bill from a woman with whom he'd taken a picture, insisting instead on a larger denomination, a police spokeswoman said, the AP reported.
After the police officer told Bishop he could only accept tips but not demand money, the Brooklyn resident began yelling at him, police say, according to the AP. When the officer told him he was under arrest, Bishop punched him in the face, police said.
The incident was not the first involving a costumed street performer running afoul of the law in New York, the AP reported.
Last month, a costumed Spider-Man man was fined $370 for a 2013 incident in which he punched a tourist who had pelted him with snow, according to the AP.
Last year, a costumed Cookie Monster was arrested on suspicion of shoving a 2-year-old child whose mother failed to tip him, and in 2012 a man dressed as Elmo was arrested after going on an anti-Semitic tirade, the AP reported.
In Saturday's incident, Bishop was charged with assaulting an officer, resisting arrest, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct, according to the AP. The officer, who suffered swelling around his eye and a cut to his face, was treated for his injuries at a nearby hospital and released, police said.
The arrest of Spider-Man, as police referred to Bishop throughout a matter-of-fact news release, came weeks after the New York City Council said it was considering legislation to regulate the costumed characters in Times Square, the AP reported.
The bill under City Council consideration would require licenses and background checks for costumed performers but copyright issues have held up final approval, since most of the costume wearers are not authorized by the characters' owners, according to the AP.
Police Commissioner William Bratton last week endorsed the measure to combat what he called Times Square's "Elmo issues," the AP reported.
