JERSEY CITY, N.J. — A mall Easter bunny and the father of a little girl shocked patrons when they got into an all-out boxing match at the Newport Centre Mall in New Jersey Sunday night.
Bystanders captured the fight on video, leading to the arrests of both men, who now face multiple charges.
It started just after 5 p.m. when a 1-year-old girl slipped out of the decorative chair during a photo opportunity with the big, purple bunny. The costumed character later told police that the dad then verbally and physically attacked him.
At the start of the video, the bunny, without his floppy ears, can be seen being separated from a man in a brown shirt.
Just seconds later, those white fluffy gloves come off as the bunny approaches the brown-shirted man again.
The bunny and the man then scuffle until mall security guards and police break them apart.
“I look over and see a man in a bunny suit fighting a parent,” a store worker, Shannon Deluco, said. “I saw punches being thrown and people being thrown to the ground.”
Deluco was working in a second floor store at the mall when the fur flew and little children started screaming.
“I didn’t see kids, but I feel sorry for them,” Deluco said. “They see the Easter bunny fighting a man.”
The Easter Bunny, 22-year-old Kassim Charles and Juan Jimenez-Guerrero, 44, are both being charged with aggravated assault and disorderly conduct.
Both men also had outstanding warrants; Charles’ was wanted for “fare hopping,” according to police.
They will both be remanded to the Hudson County Correctional Center.
“I live in Jersey City and I thought I have seen everything,” Deluco said, “but I have never seen a bunny fighting a man.”
