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Times Square Spider-Man Punches Police Officer in Face, NYPD Says

By Mathew Katz | July 27, 2014 8:20am | Updated on July 27, 2014 11:23pm
 A man dressed as Spider-Man punched a police officer in the face on Saturday, according to the NYPD.
A man dressed as Spider-Man punched a police officer in the face on Saturday, according to the NYPD.
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Laura Cavanaugh/Getty Images

TIMES SQUARE — A costumed Spider-Man punched a police officer in the face in Times Square Saturday afternoon, after the web-slinger was caught demanding money from two passersby, according to the NYPD.

The unfriendly neighborhood Spider-Man, Junior Bishop, was posing as the comic book character when he took a photo with a man and a woman near Broadway and West 42nd Street at about 2 p.m., police said.

When the woman tried to give him a dollar, Bishop, 25, refused it, saying he only accepted fives, tens or twenties, according to the NYPD.

A nearby police officer intervened, informing Bishop that the woman could donate whatever amount she wanted, police said.

Costumed characters in Times Square are allowed to accept tips, but they cannot charge or demand money.

In response, Bishop told the officer to "mind your own ----ing business," according to police.

The officer asked Bishop for identification, and when he had none, the officer tried to arrest him, police said. Instead of putting his hands behind his back, Bishop broke free of the officer and socked him in the face, according to the NYPD.

Additional officers arrived on the scene and arrested Bishop, a Brooklyn resident. He was charged with second-degree assault of a police officer, resisting arrest and criminal mischief.

The officer, who has been with the NYPD for a year and a half, was taken to NYU Langone Medical Center and was treated for swelling around his eye and cuts on his face.

Bishop previously pleaded guilty to an assault charge after an incident in Brooklyn in 2013, records show.

This isn't the first time a Spider-Man has played the villain. In June, Times Square Alliance President Tim Tomkins called for regulation of the area's costumed characters after Moussa Rabaoui, 22, was accused of groping a woman while also dressed as Spider-Man.