BRIDGEPORT — Beware the creepy clowns.
Spurred by absurd clown sightings reported all over the country, Ald. Patrick D. Thompson (11th) is urging neighborhood folks to end trick-or-treating trips by 8 p.m. on Halloween.
"That makes sure everyone’s safe," Thompson said at a Wednesday night community meeting. "Especially now. I mean ... this craziness with the clowns."
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The audience laughed — but creepy clowns have become a nuisance in some parts of the country.
Reports of threatening, scary clowns began in late August in rural South Carolina, where residents at an apartment complex told police clowns tried to lure their children into the woods with large amounts of money. Clown sightings quickly spread to Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New York and a handful of other states. But many proved to be hoaxes.
On Thursday, a person in a clown costume holding a kitchen knife chased a 16-year-old boy off a New York City train.
Teens in Philadelphia and New Jersey have been arrested for making threats involving clowns and violence at schools, according to reports.
“We got a lot of clowns,” Thompson said. “It’s serious in different communities. Some of it now it’s really taken on its own life.”
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