PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Presque Isle police on Sunday identified the individuals involved in Saturday’s alleged assault on the Walmart Super c enter Easter Bunny in what now appears to have been a planned Internet stunt.
Facing charges are Connor Fitzpatrick, 19, of Washburn; Jeremy Tweedie, 19, of Presque Isle; Justin Dyer, 21, of Presque Isle; and Kyle Murray, 19, of Presque Isle.
Police used in-store security tapes to identify those involved in an alleged assault on the Presque Isle Walmart Supercenter employee dressed as the Easter Bunny on Saturday afternoon.
According to Sgt. Mark Barnes of the Presque Isle Police Department, a teenager was reportedly sitting on the lap of a store associate playing the Easter Bunny when a second teenager allegedly tried to “take out” the first teen, but came into direct contact with the store employee instead.
The incident occurred around 3 p.m. Saturday and it was not immediately clear if the Easter Bunny was also an intended target of what could have been a prank, or collateral damage.
“It now looks to have been a hoax,” Barnes said. “This may have been for something to put on the Internet.”
Barnes said the employee, who was not part of the prank, was not injured in the incident.
Alton Bragg, assistant manager at the Presque Isle store was unable to comment on the incident, and referred all questions to Wal-Mart’s corporate headquarters.
“We are very glad our associate was not injured and is doing well,” Dianna Gee, Wal-Mart spokeswoman said Saturday evening. “We really appreciate his upbeat attitude and his decision to keep greeting the kids after it happened.”
Barnes said the investigation is continuing and charges are pending after information is presented to the Aroostook County District Attorney.
As community service, they should be made to dress up as bunnies and politely parade around in front of the store while telling the children that the Easter Bunny is inside. And then they should receive whatever punishment the court hands down.
Stupid prank…someone could have been hurt.
Awesome idea. I have a sewing machine. I’d even make one.
They should get the chair. Sounds legit. Or hang them. Hanging at the forum. Good Old Fashioned entertainment!!!
Now we know why the Easter Bunny usually stays out of sight.
DUH! That is why I asked for the YouTube link.
if you get this i would like to watch also
Really “intelligent” behavior. These morons need something productive to do….like picking up trash on the side of the roads, at gun point.
Why would they need to point a gun at the road just to pick up trash?
gun point? you have some serious issues, you should really get those checked out.
Maybe you need to be picking up trash on the side of the roads at gun point. What a crazy comment to state!!!
Really “Intelligent” Commenting.
Wow, that sounds like a threat, Robyn!
Ouch. Anger management, perhaps?
Wow, what kind of punishment would you suggest to real criminals!!?? Ooops, the dude forgets to pick up a scrap of paper so he should be shot in the leg to get his attention? Surely such an oversight wouldn’t qualify for the death penalty! I guess it would be life in prison because Maine does not have a death penalty on the books.
So, the teens are really adults–19 and 21–seems more than a teen prank.
….
No kidding…..obviously not working. I wish I had enough down time to sit and think about assaulting the Easter Bunny at Wal-Mart. Morons. Today’s 21-year-olds are the equivalent of a 14-year-old.
Do you really think they sat down and thought of this? I really feel like it wasn’t planned around a table while they knuckled their dastardly mustaches…
It probably took them as long to plan this out as it did for you to write your insensitive comment. Looks to me like those who know these guys personally are aware that these guys are hard working full time students.
Yup, maybe they should be out there robbing pharmacies or breaking into cars and homes instead of playing pranks on themselves. Oh yeah that’s right, they’re college students. I guess you think they should instead be spending more time partying, drinking, using drugs, destroying their dorm rooms, etc. I don’t think there was ever any criminal intent on the part of the players regardless of their ages.
Make these so called kids,because they are adults, hold a sign in front of the store saying I assaulted the Easter Bunny. Then have them do some road side cleaning as an additional punishment. Whats next, they do this to Santa Clause. I say embarras the heck outta them so everyone knows who they are.Chain gangs sounds more and more appropriate for some.
They should be forced to hop with a replica of the bunny costume and carrying a sign saying “I should be working, but I’m bored so me and my bros thought it would be a better idea to accost someone who is working for a living to post a video on youtube just for kicks.”
Just throwing this out there, but I know these kids, and they would think this was hilarious, and would gladly take your “Punishment”.
Again, they do have jobs and the Walmart “Bunny” employee was their FRIEND…not sure when BDN will post that, but I wish they would. WayNorth1, you do live “Way TOO FAR NORTH”, are closed-minded, need to get some exposure to the real world. You, like many of the uninformed people on here, need to find a real story to focus on. There are much bigger problems, even in Aroostook County.
Oh no — the war on Christmas has spread! Someone call Fox News, quick!!
That reminds me that I need a new shotgun, think I’ll go over and pick one up at the local Walmart, can’t help it if I’m a real Mainer and just happen to look like Elmer Fudd, going out the door with my newly purchased shotgun, hippdy hoppedy just look at that rabbit- Easter bunny go hippdy hoppedy!
people are really blowing this out of proportion. no on was injured. no one was endangered. bunny doesn’t want charges pressed against anyone. i’ve seen a lot worse around here and the PIPD are focusing on this? Aroostook County is a boring place to live I guess.
Attacking the Easter bunny! I hope those guys know Santa is watching! And boy is he mad!!
I sure hope Rick Santorum doesn’t find out about this senseless act of religous prosecution…… of which I’m sure he will believe was commited by a group of anti-religion government thugs.
I’ve seen these boys around before. They all have the long hair and tattoos and they listen to that screamin devil music. I think they are in a gang! They should be put in jail and made an example out of. Keep our streets clean!
THEY TOOK EUR JURBS!
walmrt
XXXXXwatervillewalmart:commitee_meetingthisweekXXXX
XXXXXdis:deptmag.shouldnot havetoworkebtsaturdayXXXX
XXXXXnotconfidentvoteonasstmanagersthe27thXXXXXXXX
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WTF? Is the Easter bunny in the Teamsters now?
Well said Ryan. It’s unbelievable how many unblemished, upright Bangor Daily News readers there are out there. I didn’t know I lived in such a utopian region.
btw…what the paper doesn’t say is that these 4 young lads are all very good friends of the guy dressed up as the Easter Bunny. So while it was dumb and immature, it was far from assault. Its more likely of a case of some assistant manager without a sense of humor blowing things out of proportion.
Or the fact that baby boomers are now at least 25% burnt out hippies who reach for government handouts and entitlement.
I know these guys too. Kids have done dumb things forever and will continue to d them. however one of these guys has been in the court news within the past few months. I’d hate to see a trend of dumb behavior start with him. Hopefully this is his final “hiccup” that draws police attention
What in hell is the “Easter Bunny” doing being displayed at Easter time, anyway? Easter has nothing at all to do with rabbits, eggs or colored garbage candy and “Easter baskets”. Last time I checked, it was a very holy time for all Christians and other cultures. Just the same-same as Ramadan if the Muslim’s had displayed a chipmunk to honor instead of Mohammad. Looks like the teenager’s involved in this caper truly had “egg on the face” this time around. Wait for Christmas when Santa Claus is in the store.
*To the BDN: Why have you not printed that the 4 young men are all close friends-or- that they thought it was funny that another one of their close friends had to dress up as the Easter Bunny? They decided to go see him dressed up and video him to tease him later. After arriving at Walmart, one sat on his lap while and another knocked them out of a chair. No-one was hurt, nothing was damaged. They made sure no small children were around. They did not think it would be put in the newspaper for people to say ignorant, degading and hurtful comments about them or else they would not have done it.
*To those commenting on how they should get a job: the 4 ‘assailants’ all work 35-40 hours a week while attending college full time. Was it a stupid thing to do? Obviously, but it really concerns no-one but those involved and the management of Walmart…whom might I add have had the young men go in and sincerely apologize to them. They have had to go to the PIPD station, they went and apologized to Walmart management, not because they had to, because they wanted to. They have had something that was meant to be a stupid joke on ONE person, be published in the newspaper making them sound like a gang of punks that have nothing else to do but terrorize some poor guy just doing his job—because HE works.
*To the person commenting that one of the young men’s name has been in the court news before: Thank heavens there are people like you out there to let all the rest of us know that others make mistakes in life—but you don’t.
*To those of you making comments such as they should be punished, pick up trash, hold signs outside of Walmart, get jail time: Do not ever tease a friend…because if you do, you may possibly end up in the BDN and have people say the same comments about you.
*Finally to the BDN again: The young men are being held accountable for what started out to be a harmless joke on a friend (how many of your friends do you see dress up as the Easter Bunny? Would you tease them a little about it?). They have been humiliated, degraded, being held accountable for their actions and admitted they should have not done it (even though no-one was hurt and nothing was damaged). Regardless, are you now going to be accountable to tell the entire, true story after the damage you have done? Or does the truth not make for such interesting headlines?
I don’t know who you are, but you are my new hero Hilda. I don’t know how you convey the “Disappointed Mom” tone through text, but you did, and they should feel ashamed. And you should also send them to their room to think about what they said and how it makes others feel.
Well, I don’t know who you are either, but thank you. I am not trying to justify what happened but 4 of the 5 I know very well…one is the Easter Bunny. I know for a fact that these are all very nice young men who have never been in any sort of trouble except one for which he has regretted and taken his punishment for. They all do have full time jobs while attending college full time. I guess I should mention that the 4 ‘assailants’ could possibly be in jeopardy for loosing their jobs because of how the articles of them are worded…and not told in the full text. In high school, they were althetes, students of the months, mentors to younger children, on student council, class officers for just a few of their merits. But I guess that isn’t to be taken into account of their character or who they really are and how they really treat people. When in high school, while some other students their ages were out raising old heck, these young men were not. They have never been involved with drugs or alcohol. They simply went to tease a friend…a friend who was wearing an Easter bunny costume…the REAL Easter Bunny was no where to be found and was in no way harmed. I think it should also have been told that this Easter Bunny stayed a good part of his high school years and time since with the one who pushed…not attacked… him out of his chair and his parents. They are best friends, have been for many years and the ‘push-y’ would not have intentionally tried to harm him. Embarrass him?…yes. Tease him?…yes. Not to a store full of customers but just amongst themselves. I can’t imagine of too many people never having teased a friend before. The only difference is that it doesn’t wind up in the newspaper or the radio with their names told and truth distorted.
This reminds me about one of the young men’s uncles. His uncle was killed in an automobile accident 38 years ago. It was the night before his senior prom (he was on his way home from picking up his tuxedo) and exactly one week prior to his high school graduation. When the story came out in the BDN, it stated how the accident was under investigation and it was to be determined if alcohol was a factor in his death. He was just 17 years old. Another very nice young man who had never been in any trouble. It wasn’t enough that he died or what his family was going through but the BDN had to sensationalize the story and add that for a little extra drama. They never retracted what they said, they never printed that there was no alcohol involved, they never apologized for what they said. They wanted to sell a few more papers while this family never got over their son’s/brother’s death. The BDN added unimaginable, unforgetable pain to this family by suggesting to their readers that the possibility of alcohol was the cause of the accident. It wasn’t bad enough that a young man was killed just as his future was about to begin. This family also had to endure all the thoughts and comments insinuated by the BND surrounding the accident. Ever since then, I have learned a couple of very important and valuable lessons: Do not believe everything you hear. Unless you see it with your own eyes and then it may not be as it appears. I also learned that what you say about others may cause very long lasting damage and that we all make mistakes but it doesn’t have to become public for others to hear and judge.
That’s Tragic, but I know most of these boys as well, and they are fantastic people.
Hildacrow, you obviously know these guys better than I do.
After reading the story that was printed and not knowing anything else like you do, I made a comment without mentioning his name, I did point out that one of them had had a recent ‘hiccup”, and that I do hope that it doesn’t happen again. I know he is a good kid, which is why I hope he doesn’t put himself in these situations anymore.
Right or wrong, when a well known youth gets into any type of trouble, they are a bit more under the microscope than another youth might be.
If your version of the story had been added, perhaps I would have withheld my comment. I just don’t want to see him or the other ones that I know have anymore “hiccups”.
I appreciate and respect your honesty. You are right in saying that the more well known a youth or anyone is, they are watched a little more closely. Especially when they are supposed to be role models. I guess by knowing what really happened, I am disappointed and feel badly for how mean, judgemental and unforgiving some people can be. You obviously are concerned and willing to hear/believe the truth and hoping they learned a darn good lesson. I can assure you they really wished none of the entire incident from first thought until now never entered their minds or happened. In truth, had I read the same articles as they are written, I might have presumed the same thoughts as you. I try really hard not to believe all that I hear or read but I guess sometimes human nature makes us do otherwise. It’s nice to know that at least one person is willing to see that there might really be another side to this story.
“hiccups”???! seriously??? Do you really think this is the first time these young adults did something wrong? It might be the first time they got caught but i certianly doubt they are innocent of planning ahead of time just like any other Bully does…
bully?
I guess I’m not hip to the new lingo. When I “take out” somebody for dinner or a movie it is usually a positive experience. I guess the Easter bunny didn’t want to go?
Are you sure that this is just a stupid teenage prank?
It could be a group of violent Christian fundamentalists protesting the deamonization of one of their holiest days.
Maybe it was caused by Gov. LePage to cover something up.
Did they use a rubber carrot as the weapon?
Was a rubber carrot the weapon of choice? Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter…Mr. McGregor is watching you!
C’mon really? This is news, and not only that, ONGOING news? How long does it take to resolve this “crime” and move on? No one was hurt, and the people involved were identified on camera, not that this is really that big a deal anyway. Who cares? This is Aroostook County’s version of celebrity gossip.
If this is the worst thing that has happened in Aroostook County for awhile, I sure am glad I live here…
I would like everyone on here to know that these 4 young men all knew the person in the costume, and that it was a JOKE! We all mess around and have fun with our friends, so why should we punish these boys for something we’re all guilty of ourselves? Oh, and Bangor Daily News, the way you make it sound is horrible, like it was a planned attack on someone they didn’t know.. these four boys lost their jobs because of you.. they’re losing everything because of YOUR information. Next time you decide to post a story you might want to make sure all of your information is true, because you might just be ruining someone’s life.