A New Jersey man was arrested after he allegedly groped an Easter Bunny mascot during a photo op at a Pennsylvania mall — but insisted he thought the costume was “a doll.”
Bera Shivakrishna, 36, wandered up to an Easter display at the South Hills Village Mall last Monday and allegedly forced himself onto the the mascot, according to a criminal complaint obtained by CBS News Pittsburgh.
The female worker inside of the bulky costume could do little against her assailant.
Before he pounced on her, Shivakrishna lobbed bizarre questions at the mascot, including asking if the bunny was “a boy or a girl,” the complaint said.
When the mascot politely referred him to her assistant, he refused and started to feel her up. He grasped her arms before fondling her breasts through the costume’s padding, the complaint alleged.
His hands continued to inch further up until he shoved his fingers inside the costume’s nose and mouth. He wandered off shortly after while the shell-shocked victim and assistant reported the assault to police.
Authorities used their testimonies, supplemented by the mall’s security footage, to identify Shivakrishna as the suspect.
He was found that same day mid-snooze at the neighboring AMC Theater.
Shivakrishna was woken up by police and taken into custody.
While in transport, he asked cops, “Is it on the close to Five Below, the merchandise thing, the bunny?” and later added, “It’s a doll, right?” in reference to the costumed woman he allegedly assaulted.
The photo op, a cozy faux garden flanked by rows of pinwheels with a throne set up in the middle for the Easter Bunny, is right outside the mall’s Five Below.
When police informed him that there was, in fact, a real person inside the costume, Shivakrishna insisted, “By mistake, my hand touched her, if it’s a lady.”
At some point, he also groused that, “If I did not watch a movie here, I wouldn’t have been caught,” WPXI-TV reported.
Locals were appalled by the broad-daylight assault — which, thankfully, was not witnessed by any children.
“All kinds of people would have seen this. If I would have been there with my son, I would have just been appalled. We would have gotten out of line and had to leave,” Jenn Herrig told the outlet.
“It’s gross. That’s not the kind of activity that should be happening in our township, not at all,” Logan Wells, another local, added.
He was charged with indecent assault, punishable by a maximum of 18 months in prison under New Jersey law. He is being held on a $10,000 bond.