California police warns residents to stay away from man dressed as Cookie Monster

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (CNN, KYMA/KECY) - Do not engage. That's the warning from police in Santa Cruz who want people to stay away from a man dressed as the Cookie Monster.

Creeped out and uncomfortable is what visitors on the Santa Cruz Wharf are feeling after encountering this man dressed in a Cookie Monster costume.

"It's the creepy monster, not the Cookie Monster," said Scotty, a resident of Santa Cruz.

The man is believed to badger people and aggressively yell.

"We saw him at the beginning of the wharf and at first glance it seemed like maybe it would be fun to do a selfie or something with him but we were away from him and then we went to the back of the wharf by the sea lions and that's when we noticed him coming out of that direction making a commotion and he was getting in people's faces," said Michelle Roberts.

Keep an eye out and do not engage

A Santa Cruz Village patrolman also shared this, "I saw him on the day that the Sesame Street creator died and told you he was sad about that. But then he kept showing up and I guess people were complaining out here about him."

The Santa Cruz Police Department is warning visitors to keep an eye out for the man, telling them to not engage.

Police also said that the man has faced criminal charges in other parts of the country. However, police could not provide any additional details.

"Yeah, he's a weirdo for sure. He puts the 'W' in weirdo. I actually got him to take a picture with my dog. Yeah, he kind of creeped my dog out too," Scotty further spoke.

The police says they've received several calls, but at this point, the man has not committed any crimes in the city.