Bad eggs make the Easter Bunny's job risky business

BAY CITY, Mich. -- The Easter Bunny is hopping mad. Bryan Johnson, who portrays the furry character at the Bay City Mall, says he was pummeled in an unprovoked attack on the job. Police say the attacker was a 12-year-old boy who sat on Johnson's lap the day before the March 18 incident.

Johnson, 18, suffered a bloody nose. He kept his cool during the attack, deeming it inappropriate for the Easter Bunny to fight back. But he's not willing to forgive and forget.

"They [the sheriff's deputies] told me it was up to me, and I feel that the boy should be prosecuted," Johnson told The Bay City Times.

Johnson told Bay County Sheriff's deputies that the boy hit him in the face at least six times before running away.

Bay County Sheriff John E. Miller said the youth has been in trouble in the past. The case will be forwarded to the Bay County prosecutor's office next week for action, he said.

Johnson, meanwhile, is back on the job at the mall, where he had been working as the Easter Bunny for about a week before the attack.

"I just like getting the kids to laugh and have fun," he said. His job is to get his picture taken with children and make them laugh. That can be difficult because he is not allowed to speak while in costume.

Johnson said his 12-year-old attacker seemed perfectly happy the day before the incident. "Yeah, he came up and said, 'Hi,' and was sitting on my lap and talking," Johnson said. "He seemed OK." But when he saw Johnson the next day, the boy didn't want to talk.

"He just started hitting," Johnson said.

In another case of bunny abuse, a teenager in Rotterdam, N.Y., was arrested on charges of attacking a mall Easter Bunny.

David C. Velasquez, 16, was charged with third-degree criminal mischief, a felony, and second-degree harassment, a violation, for a March 17 attack on the Rotterdam Square Mall Easter Bunny, police in Rotterdam announced Friday.

Police said Velasquez jumped the bunny, causing $600 in damage to the bunny's suit. The man inside the suit, who has not been identified, was uninjured. Police did not give a motive for the attack.

Officials with the Schenectady-area mall said the bunny is taking the incident in stride.

"I'm sure a lot of people will come in and give him hugs," mall marketing director Jennifer Austin said, "because of everything he's been through."