Parents accused of bum-rushing Easter egg hunt in Connecticut

ORANGE, Conn. -- An Easter egg hunt in Connecticut turned into a shoving match Saturday, and ended with broken baskets and children in tears.

The field adjacent to the Pez Visitor Center was the site of the holiday Easter egg hunt.

It was free to the public.

Throughout the week leading up to it, it was attracting a lot of attention on the Pez Facebook page.

The event was supposed to take place in three stages, broken down into age groups.

But parents didn't pay much attention to procedure. In fact, reports say a lot of adults didn't stand still.

"When it came time for like 10:30, like the parents just bum-rushed that area," parent Nicole Welch says.

Shawn Peterson, the general manager for Pez, says the company tried to keep the parents calm.

"'Let's wait, we'll give a whistle,'" Peterson says he told parents. "'We'll give the signal to start this.' That lasted about a minute. And then folks just rushed the field and took everything."

"When my son left, he had a broken basket and was hysterically crying," Welch says.

The PEZ general manager and his staff attempted to regain order, but things spiraled out of control.

"It was like locusts," Peterson says. "Every, everybody just descended and then left."

The action of these parents left Pez with a lot of disappointed children.

The company then set up a back-up plan, giving out free stuff. But for many the lines were too long and the mood wasn't right.

"I'm not going to take my kid somewhere where now, I feel like you're not putting their safety in any way, shape, or form," Welch says.

Peterson says it is disappointing that so many people missed out on the chance at a good event.

"It's supposed to be a fun, free activity, and we did our best and unfortunately fell a little short," Peterson says.

No one was injured during the event. Police did not respond, but did speak with Pez company officials afterward.