Elderly Neighbors Throw Down in Dispute Over Ceramic Easter Bunny

Boston Herald:

The Easter Bunny has left a dark trail of suspicion, ill will and even criminal charges in Salisbury, where two elderly public housing tenants will face each other in court soon in a dispute over an 18-inch ceramic rabbit.

Larry Quinn, 73, has a show-cause hearing in Newburyport District Court next month to determine whether he’ll be charged with threatening to commit a crime after a confrontation with a neighbor who took issue with his decorative bunny.

“We’re talking about a little ceramic bunny less than 18 inches high,” said Salisbury Housing Authority Executive Director Dan Ouellette. “It’s cute. It’s really cute.”

WHDH-TV:

“Mr. Bailey claims that Mr. Quinn threatened to beat him up,” Chief Richard Merrill, Jr., said. “And Mr. Quinn claims that Mr. Bailey threatened to beat him up. So that’s where the cross complaints come into effect.”

Bailey is no stranger to controversy with his neighbors.

“In a ten-year span he’s filed over 38 complaints with the Salisbury police department where an officer has actually responded,” Chief Merrill said.

In fact, Bailey was in court Friday facing charges of assault and battery on one of his other neighbors, Bernie Boylan.

“This is not about a bunny,” Boylan said. “He’s a terrorist. He’s basically a village terrorist and he’s terrorizing everybody and we’re afraid.”

Mediate:

The news anchor delivered the news with a straight face and a hilarious “Hopping Mad” news graphic behind her, turning it over to the poor reporter that had to chase down both Quinn and Bailey for comment. While the former declined, the latter appeared enraged by all the hoopla, since this isn’t exactly out-of-character for him. “In a ten-year span, Bailey has filed 38 complaints on his neighbors,” the police reported, while one neighbor decried Bailey as a “village terrorist” that has everybody “afraid.”

Of that neighbor, Bailey asked, “Did you see the Big Kahuna?” before announcing, “I assaulted him!” (but immediately saying “no” when asked if that was true). The town’s police chief, the station reports, has given up on caring, while the officer assigned to the mess called everyone involved in the case “grumpy old men.”

Neighbor dispute over Easter bunny heading to a judge: MyFoxBOSTON.com

WFXT-TV: Bailey told FOX 25, "I like Easter but that is my space."