Pushy Parents At Connecticut Easter Egg Hunt Steal Kids' Candy, Create 'A Mess'

ORANGE, Conn. (CBSLA.com/AP) — An Easter egg hunt in southern Connecticut turned into a shoving match after pushy parents ignored the rules.

Saturday's event at the Pez Visitor Center in Orange drew hundreds of people, some of whom didn't wait for the starting time.

Pez General Manager Shawn Peterson told CBS affiliate WFSB-TV that people "rushed the field and took everything."

Event organizers placed more than 9,000 eggs on three fields with the intention of having staggered start times for each age group.

But Pez officials say the crowd moved from field to field without being directed to do so.

West Haven resident Nicole Welch attended the event with her 4-year-old son. She told WFSB that children were trampled, parents knocked over children and eggs were stolen out of peoples' baskets.

Welch said she and her son were son are "traumatized" by the entire incident.

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

Peterson said the crowd was "kind of like locusts."

Pez in a statement apologized for "an unfortunate situation" and said the actions of a few turned the event into "a mess."

No injuries were reported.

(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)