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Times Square Woody Allegedly A 'Serial Butt Groper'
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Jul 7, 2015
Modified Aug 1, 2017
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By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Jul 7, 2015
Modified Aug 1, 2017
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Woody from Toy Story is in a bit of trouble, or at least his Times Square counterpart is—a man who used to don a Woody costume and ask tourists to pose for photos with him has been accused of repeatedly groping women's behinds, and faces three counts of attempted forcible touching and three counts of sex abuse.
José Vasquez, 45, was arrested back in January 2014 for allegedly touching "numerous girls" while dressed as Woody, a Pixar cowboy originally voiced by unrepentant seat-hog Tom Hanks. He declined to enroll in a sex offenders program that would have netted him no jail time, and is now on trial for the aforementioned groping.
In court yesterday, Vasquez's arresting officer detailed the defendant's alleged groping on the day he was nabbed. "The defendant was dressed as Woody and was with Buzz Lightyear and Minnie Mouse taking group photographs. I observed a woman in front of the defendant jump up and scream while taking a group photograph," Police Officer Shreegan Meade testified, alleging that the victim told him, "He just grabbed my butt. I can't believe he did that. I'm really upset."
Meade claims Woody then "rub[bed] his open palm on the buttocks area" of two additional female tourists—all three reportedly posed with him for photos. Vasquez's attorney says his client never groped anyone.
Vasquez isn't the only Times Square Woody who's found himself behind bars of late—the city is intent on stopping creepy costumed Times Square characters from scarring children for life, and alleged rampant lawbreakers like Minnie Mouse, Cookie Monster, and Elmo have been arrested for everything from grifting tourists to shoving toddlers. Tourists, spare your kids the Buzz Lightyear photo opp and feed them sugar at M&M's World instead.
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Costumed Characters
jose vasquez
manhattan
Times Square
toy story
woody
Rebecca Fishbein
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