The third annual PEZ Easter Egg Hunt in Orange, CT had to be canceled due to unruly behavior.

There was pushing, shoving, bloody noses and arrests—and that's just the parents!

PEZ planned for a larger crowd based on their growth over the last few years, but the fields that hid over 9,000 eggs quickly turned into an embarrassing scene after people rushed the fields before the event even started.

Unfortunately people chose to enter the first field prior to anyone from PEZ staff starting the activity. The crowd moved to the second field, waited for only a couple of minutes and proceeded to rush the field without being directed to do so and before the posted start time.

The general manager and other staff Visitor Center staff members were on hand trying to talk with as many people as we possibly could, letting them know if someone didn’t get an egg or candy, we had plenty of candy at the front entry for them. We sincerely tried our best to create a fun, free activity for everyone to enjoy.

We made efforts to get everyone something before they left and passed out tons of candy and coupons and the front entry and tried to make the best of an unfortunate situation. Due to the actions of a few, the good intent quickly turned into a mess. I would like to sincerely apologize to each of our guests, this was not something created to frustrate or make people angry. We only wanted to do good for the local community.

One parent commented that her child's nose was bloodied, and another said their kid's basket was broken by an adult who was rushing to get the eggs. PEZ described the horrible adults as "locusts" who swarmed the field.

 

Many took to social media to criticize the parents, while others put the blame on PEZ for failing to plan accordingly.

After news of the incident went viral, PEZ released another statement on Monday.

This was PEZ Candy’s third year of hosting a free Easter Egg Hunt event; we anticipated a larger crowd placing more than 9,000 eggs on 3 different fields.

Unfortunately, the number of families that participated far exceeded the previous two year’s events.  People chose to ignore staff direction and entered the fields before the posted start times, removing everything well before the activity was to begin. Due to the actions of a few, the good intent quickly turned into a disappointment.

We made every effort to pass out plenty of candy and coupons to the children that were unable to obtain anything during the event.

The remainder of the day went as planned. We had a large number of guests that chose to stay after the Egg Hunt to enjoy the Visitor Center and the Easter Bunny.  The Bunny offered free candy and dispensers to all that were interested.

We sincerely tried our best to create a fun, free activity for everyone to enjoy and greatly appreciate the overwhelming support we have received not only locally, but nationally and internationally as well.

There were no reported arrests at the time of this story, but police say one man threatened police before running off but was later caught and pepper sprayed.

Happy Easter!

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