Send in the clown complaints: Spate of reports raises alarm

Before anybody gets their red rubber noses out of joint, let me say that if, indeed, “clowns” are lurking on street corners or near wooded areas close to schools, law enforcement better find him/her and find out what the heck is going on.

Snyder County District Attorney Michael Piecuch said he’s aware of the mounting concern around the clown sightings and encourages people who see suspicious activity not to act on their own, but call police.

The outbreak of “clowns in the woods” sweeping the Southeast made its way to Colleton County earlier this month when a rash of reported sightings emerged.

A number of USA states have seen reports of suspicious clown-related activity lately.

According to a release, police say they received a report Thursday night of a person dressed as a clown in the city, holding an axe and staring at bystanders.

A member of the troupe who lives in Portage, Pennsylvania, planned to travel to Johnstown on Wednesday for a performance, troupe member Janis Daily said, but canceled her trip after reading about the Barr Township sighting, anxious that she might be pulled over and arrested.

According to CBS News, late on August 21, a woman reported that her son had seen a clown figure in the woods making unusual noises in Greenville, South Carolina.

Gindlesperger said she worries that the clown panic will ruin the joy she and her cohorts try to bring to the public. To attempt to lure a child in any way will result in charges of criminal child enticement and result in a trip to jail.

Reports have also emerged from Escambia County, Alabama which saw a woman arrested following social media threats from accounts using the names Flomo Klown and Shoota Cllown.

One terrified 11-year-old was so scared of being kidnapped by the clowns that police caught him carrying a knife to school.

“We have not had any reports of clowns around our schools”, Bowman said.

Albert Walker, the police chief in northeastern Pennsylvania’s Hanover Township, stepped up patrols along a main highway after posts on Facebook about a clown in woods nearby.

The recent clown sightings have caused many to speculate sightings are a copycat or a hoax, while others believe it is connected to the release of a movie based on Stephen King’s book “It”, scheduled for release in 2017.

But Ward said the clown sightings have blown up all over social media, especially Facebook.

Police in Pottsville, Schuylkill County, are investigating one such report, which involved two men dressed as clowns yelling at a group of children in the area of Wolfe Street and Greenwood Avenue. “Some of the older kids weren’t even frightened”.

“We are used to “Killer Klowns from Outer Space” and Krusty the Clown, but this has taken it to another level”, Manuel said.

Pat Ward, a local magician/clown who entertains at parties for people of all ages, said he thinks this clown-sighting thing has been blown out of proportion. “This is like, ‘Are you kidding me?'”