14 DAY TRIAL // An Elmo impersonator in New York is giving the Sesame Street character a bad name, first yelling out anti-Semitic remarks in Times Square, then trying to bully the Girl Scouts into giving him money.
According to the NY Daily News, Elmo, by his real name Dan Sandler, was arrested on Tuesday, June 4.
He was found living in a car in San Francisco and he has been charged with attempted grand larceny, aggravated harassment and stalking.
He has allegedly started sending harassing emails to the Girl Scouts organization in July 2012. Said messages have been described as "alarming" and "bizarre."
He tried to take them for millions and threatened that, if they didn't pay up, he would launch rumors about them running a call girl operation, setting up meetings between older men and minor girls in their scout camps.
He was brought by plane to the Manhattan Supreme Court for a hearing, with an officer supervising him. While 49-year-old Sandler is pleading not guilty, he has confessed to the crime during the flight.
“[I] did the same thing to Pfizer as the Girl Scouts but they never made a complaint about it but they just gave me a lot of money,” he told the officer.
He also spoke about his life and how an being Elmo impersonator is very lucrative.
“I want to continue doing my Elmo gig because I make a lot of money. I want to do that the rest of my life. I should have gone to law school instead of doing the e-learning,” he said.
He was previously detained in September 2012 for blocking traffic during an anti-Semitic rant.
“The Jews are responsible for everything that's wrong with the world! I hate the Jews!” he was screaming.
Attorney Lawrence Gerzog argues that Sandler is Jewish and brings into question his possible mental illness.
“He has a questionable mental state. [...] He has erratic behavior. He was living in a car,” prosecutor Lauren Littman agrees.