The “creepy clown” craze has ballooned into a full-blown epidemic.
Clown sightings have now been reported in more than 32 states since the first incident emerged in South Carolina towards the end of August. The scares have even spread worldwide to the UK and Australia.
While most incidents have remained unsubstantiated threats and rumors, there have been some involving legitimate attacks and violence — including some in the tri-state area.
Clown-involved incidents have been reported in more than a dozen towns in the area, from the Philadelphia suburb of Burlington Township, New Jersey, to Ellenville in New York’s Ulster County.
In two of the more serious incidents reported, a 16-year-old boy told police a clown chased him through an Upper East Side subway station and a car full of teenagers donning clown masks terrorized a woman driving on a highway in Fair Lawn, New Jersey.
With Halloween still a few weeks away, the clown sightings show no sign of slowing down.
This map will continue to be updated as more sightings are reported. Have a sighting to report? Click “submit your photo” below!
