California Highway Patrol

A motorcycle rider in an Easter Bunny costume was pulled over by a California Highway Patrol officer on Saturday.

Move over, Mad Max. Step aside, Easy Rider. The Easter Bunny rules the road.

A motorcyclist wearing a full Easter Bunny costume was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol early Saturday after officers on routine patrol spotted the costumed man traveling down Interstate 8 without a helmet, NBCLosAngeles.com reported.

CHP Officer Adam Griffiths reportedly radioed: “I’m stopping the Easter Bunny.”

The motorist – who was cruising in a shiny red bike with an old-fashioned sidecar – told Griffiths that he was on his way to an Easter charity event at which he was required to wear a bunny costume, including white gloves and floppy feet.

Griffiths' partner snapped a photo of the repentant rabbit, which has since circulated widely on social media networks.

Grifiths told the man that the bunny head obstructed his view and put other motorists in danger, according to local reports. But Griffiths ultimately let him off with a verbal warning instead of a citation.

“If you ride a motorcycle, you have to be aware of your total surroundings,” CHP spokesman Brian Pennings told the Los Angeles Times.

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Dr. Jeremy Kilburn, an Air Force pulomonologist and former trauma surgeon in Afghanistan.

A hiker stranded by a broken leg in a remote part of California's Shasta-Trinity National Forest acted as a doctor first, and a patient second, when the paramedic who flew in to rescue him last week was struck in the head by a helicopter blade.

Dr. Jeremy Kilburn, an Air Force pulmonologist from Las Vegas, was hiking with a friend in a rugged section of the park near Big Bear Lake when he broke his leg and injured his ankle, according to the California Highway Patrol. The Highway Patrol sent two officers in a medevac to the area.

But when Officer Brian Henderson and paramedic Officer Tony Stanley arrived, the mission took an unexpected turn, one that would require Kilburn -- who had served as a trauma surgeon in Afghanistan -- to draw on his medical training.

Henderson turned off the helicopter's rotor blade when they landed. Stanley got out, but stayed close to the chopper. 

"The blade was slowing, but it was still moving," CHP spokesman Lt. Scott Fredrick told msnbc.com. 

As the rotors slowed, the blade sagged, and slammed Stanley in the back of the head. He collapsed, unconscious, instantly. Blood was coming from his shattered skull.

Kilburn did not return requests for an interview from msnbc.com. But Dan Grasso, Kilburn's lifelong friend and hiking partner, described last Thursday's hike for the first time on Monday to The San Jose Mercury News. 

"I knew that for him (Stanley) to have a chance of surviving, I would have to get Jeremy to him," Grasso, of Sunnyvale, Calif., told the paper.

Grasso helped Kilburn hop 50 yards down the hill, where Kilburn hooked Stanley up to oxygen and put pressure on his wound, Grasso told The Mercury News.

"Thanks to the assistance they provided, Tony is alive today," CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow said in a press release. "I cannot even imagine the pain Dr. Kilburn was in, unable to walk ... Without regard to his own injuries and pain, Dr. Kilburn performed critical life-saving steps."

Kilburn's leg was injured when his German shepherd, who had joined them for the hike, bumped into him, causing him to land awkwardly, the CHP spokesman said. Grasso borrowed radios to call for help from two camp counselors who were hiking with kids in the area; the counselors, Elizabeth Fitch and Bryce Halbert, helped load Stanley into the chopper with Kilburn.

The pilot asked Fitch to be a flight nurse, CHP said. Kilburn directed her to hold IV bags for Stanley and help control his bleeding throughout the 40-mile-plus journey back to Redding, Calif., for hospitalization.

Meanwhile, Grasso, the remaining camp counselor, and a dozen kids hiked back down on foot, said The Mercury News.

Stanley, 40, has worked for the California Highway Patrol for 10 years. Lt. Fredrick told msnbc.com on Tuesday that Stanley was still hospitalized at Mercy Medical Center and being treated for his wounds.

Grasso told The Mercury News that Kilburn doesn't see himself as a hero for keeping Stanley alive.

"He says, 'That's my job, I do this every day,'" he said. "That's for him to say. The rest of us will still call him a hero."

Kilburn is recovering and has returned to assignment with the Air Force in Las Vegas, CHP spokesman Fredrick said.

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A man who was seen on video being thrown to the ground and kicked in the head after a confrontation along a Southern California freeway has been arrested because of an earlier road rage incident.

A passing motorist captured cell phone video along Interstate 5 in Los Angeles on June 12 of Jerry Patterson of Palmdale, Calif., being beaten by two other men until he was unresponsive. The video shows Patterson, 49, shouting with three men, and then rolling up his sleeves and balling his hands. Then, two of men push Patterson down, kick and punch him, and drive off with the third man as Patterson lay motionless on the ground.

On Thursday, Patterson was arrested for a different skirmish that happened last month: California Highway Patrol told NBCLosAngeles.com that on May 25, Patterson had been involved in a hit-and-run collision in Long Beach that led to a fight.

Read more, see video on NBCLosAngeles.com

James Poole told NBCLosAngeles.com he witnessed the hit-and-run, and followed Patterson on his motorcycle. Patterson pulled over about a mile later and the two began arguing, said Poole, of Belmont Shore.

"I wouldn't let him get back in his car. First I demanded his driver license number and a lot of people started seeing us yelling and screaming at each other. I was looking at his driver license when he hit me," Poole said.

Poole said he walked away from the altercation with two black eyes.

"The three things I do recall he said during our discussion was the fact that he saved millions of Americans' lives, he's on a mission with the FBI, and to let him go," Poole said. There is cell phone video of the altercation.

Patterson was booked on suspicion of DUI, hit and run, and battery, according to the full police report.

Patterson didn't show up for his June 5 court date, so police issued an arrest warrant for him the following day. On Thursday morning, police arrested Patterson for failing to appear at the arraignment.

Patterson's sister told the station in a phone interview that her brother is "a very good guy. We support him 300 percent."

"These two incidents are isolated," his sister, who was not identified, said. "He's a good guy. He helps dogs and senior citizens. We don't know what is happening. Maybe he's just having a bad month. He's a good man."

Assailants seen in video arrested
Meanwhile, video of the June 12 incident prompted an investigation by the California Highway Patrol. The men accused of beating Patterson were arrested and identified as Edras Ramirez, 27 and David Mendez, 21. They turned themselves in on Wednesday night, and are scheduled to be arraigned at some point on Friday, according to the CHP.

Earlier this week, before his arrest, Patterson told NBCLosAngeles.com the confrontation began after he accidentally cut off the suspects. The men then followed him for about five miles and threw things at his vehicle before they stopped in front of him, Patterson said.

"In 20/20 hindsight, I probably should have called the police," said Patterson, who told NBCLosAngeles.com he suffered a concussion. "I'm just not that kind of person. I didn't think in my wildest dreams it would escalate to where it went to. ... It was just a fight. You win some, you lose some. ... I don't remember much of that."

Read more of the interview with Patterson on NBCLosAngeles.com

The video of the fight was posted and later removed from YouTube, but is still live on a site called LiveLeak.com.

Emeal Age, the driver who captured the video, told NBCLosAngeles.com he didn't want to risk getting hurt by stepping in to try to stop the brawl.

"I didn't think it was going to escalate to this," Age said. "I didn't want to jeopardize what I have going on in my life for a situation like that. So I just made the best deicision and all I could do was get it on camera for him."

The video clearly showed the assailants' faces, and captured their license plate, as well. The third man seen in the assailants' car is not being pursued by police, said The Los Angeles Times.

Read more from the man who took the video on NBCLosAngeles.com

CHP Sgt. Denise Joslin said it was wise of Age not to get involved.

"The ideal situation would have been that these individuals didn't engage in the type of conduct they did," Joslin told NBCLosAngeles.com. "We all know of good Samaritans out there, but I don't necessarily recommend getting involved in a incident like this. We don't know the capability of the individuals involved. We don't know if the individuals are armed."

When the assailants drove off, Age and another man are seen rushing over to Patterson, trying to help him up. By the time emergency personnel arrived at the scene, Patterson was gone. He told NBCLosAngeles.com he drove himself home.

Patterson, a mortgage consultant and father of three, was to be booked at the Crescenta Valley Sheriff's Station, according to CHP.

His bond was forfeited and Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Chet L. Taylor issued a bench warrant for $50,000.

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