The biker dressed as a giant, white Easter bunny and pulled over this past weekend in southern California has been unmasked.
Ed Bell was found by an NBC 7 San Diego news crew at a BMW motorcycle shop Monday, hours after photos swept the Internet showing the bunny pulled over on a freeway for not wearing a helmet.
The man behind the mask would only publicly admit that he may have an alter ego that involves that red bike.
"I was kind of taken aback by the huge response it's gotten,” he said.
Bell said the bunny was simply on the way to a charity event Saturday morning to cheer up a sick friend. He attached a bungee cord to the helmet so it could fit on the costume’s head.
"If we felt it was an unsafe action, we wouldn't have done it in the first place,” he said. "Because the last thing anyone needed was a wounded Easter bunny the day before Easter."
While Bell was riding down Interstate 8 he was stopped by a California Highway Patrol officer. Fortunately for him, the CHP had some holiday spirit and gave him a written warning.
"So, the Easter bunny pulled over, straightened his ears out so he could hear the officer,” Bell said. "They were all professional, polite, courteous. They got into the mood real quick. Gave him a stern warning.”
Bell said the reason he donned the costume was purely comical.
"There's a lot of bad stuff going on this was something people could point to and get a good laugh,” he said.
As for whether this will become a holiday tradition, he says never lose faith in the Easter Bunny.
“Never say never to the Easter Bunny,” he said. “If the Easter bunny does come back, they'll probably have a better helmet, or one more recognizable."
